Floral development genes

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to an isolated nucleic acid fragment encoding floral development proteins, more specifically FT, TFL or Ap3 homologs. The invention also relates to the construction of a recombinant DNA construct encoding all or a portion of the floral development proteins, in sense or antisense orientation, wherein expression of the recombinant DNA construct results in production of altered levels of the FT, TFL or Ap3 homologs in a transformed host cell.

APPLICATION PRIORITY INFORMATION

This continuation-in-part application claims the benefit of International Patent Application No. PCT/US01/43750, filed Nov. 21, 2001, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/253,415, filed Nov. 28, 2000, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention is in the field of plant molecular biology. More specifically, this invention pertains to nucleic acid fragments encoding floral development proteins in plants and seeds.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Flowering in plants is a consequence of the transition of the shoot apex from vegetative to reproductive growth in response to environmental and internal signals. Currently, there is little information about how plants coordinate the activities of the cells that give rise to reproductive plant tissues, however, research has focused on identifying the genes that control this developmental process. Floral homeotic genes that control the specification of meristem and organ identity in developing flowers have been identified in Arabidopsis thaliana and Antirrhinum majus. Most of these genes belong to a large family of regulatory genes that possess a characteristic DNA binding domain known as the MADS-box. Members of this gene family display primarily floral-specific expression and are homologous to transcription factors found in several animal and fungal species. Molecular evolutionary analysis reveal that there are appreciable differences in the substitution rates between different domains of these plant MADS-box genes. Phylogenetic analysis also demonstrate that members of the plant MADS-box gene family are organized into several distinct gene groups: the AGAMOUS, APETALA3 (Ap3)/PISTILLATA and APETALA1/AGL9 groups. Several genes that belong to the APETALA3 (Ap3) group have been identified in Arabidopsis thaliana (Jack et al., (1992) Cell 68:683-697). Genes of this group have been shown to play a role in the control of organ identity of petals and stamens during floral development (Bowman et al., (1989) Plant Cell 1:37-52 and Bowman et al., (1991) Development 112:1-20; Weigel and Meyerowitz (1994) Cell 78:203-209; Coen and Meyerowitz (1991) Nature 353:31-37; WO 93/21322). Thus, the shared evolutionary history of members of a gene group appear to reflect the distinct functional roles these MAD-box genes play in flower development.

The flowering locus T gene (FT) encodes a protein that appears to be involved in the regulating plant growth by controlling the rate at which maturation occurs. For example, an increase in FT function has been shown to produce early flowering (Kardailsky et al., (1999) Science 286:1962-1965). Thus the FT gene may be useful to accelerate flowering in various crops.

The deduced sequence of the FT protein is similar to the sequence of TERMINAL FLOWER 1 (TFL1) and shares sequence similarity with membrane-associated mammalian proteins (Kardailsky et al., (1999) Science 286:1962-1965). TFL1 in Arabidopsis, and the homologous Antirrhinum gene CENTRORADIALIS (CEN) play a key role in determining inflorescence architecture (Bradley et al. (1997) Science 275:80-83; WO 97/10339; WO 99/53070).

FT protein belongs to a family of membrane-associated phosphatidylethanolamine-bind proteins (PEBP), which may function as kinase inhibitors to regulate the signal transudation pathways (Kardailsky et al., Activation tagging of the floral inducer FT, Science, Dec 3;286 (5446), 1962-5,1999); Kobayashi et al., A pair of related genes with antagonistic roles in mediating flower signals, Science, December 3;286 (5446), 1960-2,1999). The Arabidopsis gene TFL encodes a protein related to FT. Genes play antagonistic roles in the floral transition such as TFL is a repressor of flowering whereas FT is an activator (Kardailsky et al., 1999; Kobayashi et al., 1999). International patent application PCT/US01/43750 claims 9 corn homologs of the Arabidopsis FT. For continuity, maize genes were named ZmFT or ZmTFL (Table 1) accordingly to the degree of the translational homology to Arabidopsis FT-TFL proteins (GenBank accession numbers FT AB027504, TFL U77674).

There is a great deal of interest in identifying the genes that encode proteins involved in cellular differentiation in plants. These genes may be used in plant cells to control development. Accordingly, the availability of nucleic acid sequences encoding all or a portion of an Ap3 or FT or TFL1 gene homolog would facilitate studies to better understanding development in plants and provide genetic tools to enhance or otherwise alter plant developmental processes. Nucleic acid fragments encoding Ap3 homologs may be useful for engineering plant sterility/fertility, and flower development and morphology. Nucleic acid fragments encoding FT or TFL1 homologs may be useful for engineering flowering time, plant growth rate, inflorescence architecture, and tissue culture morphology and rate of cell division to enhance transformation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns isolated polynucleotides comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide having FT, TFL or Ap3 homolog activity wherein the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 54, 56, 58, or 60 have at least 80% sequence identity. It is preferred that the identity be at least 85%, it is preferable if the identity is at least 90%, it is more preferred that the identity be at least 95%. The present invention also relates to isolated polynucleotides comprising the complement of the nucleotide sequence, wherein the complement and the nucleotide sequence contain the same number of nucleotides and are 100% complementary. More specifically, the present invention concerns isolated polynucleotides encoding the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 54, 56, 58, or 60 or nucleotide sequences comprising the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 37, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 49, 53, 55, 57, 59, 63, 64, 65, 66 or 67.

In a first embodiment, the present invention concerns an isolated polynucleotide comprising: (a) a nucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide comprising at least 50, 100, 150, 160, 170, 175, or 200, amino acids, wherein the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 54, 56, 58, or 60 have at least 80%, 85%, 90%, or 95% identity based on the Clustal alignment method, or (b) the complement of the nucleotide sequence, wherein the complement and the nucleotide sequence contain the same number of nucleotides and are 100% complementary. The polypeptide preferably comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 54, 56, 58, or 60. The nucleotide sequence preferably comprises the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 37, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 49, 53, 55, 57, 59, 63, 64, 65, 66, or 67. The polypeptide preferably is a FT, TFL or Ap3 homolog.

In a second embodiment, the present invention relates to a recombinant DNA construct comprising any of the isolated polynucleotides of the present invention operably linked to a regulatory sequence, and a cell, a plant, and a seed comprising the recombinant DNA construct.

In a third embodiment, the present invention relates to a vector comprising any of the isolated polynucleotides of the present invention.

In a fourth embodiment, the present invention relates to an isolated polynucleotide comprising a nucleotide sequence comprised by any of the polynucleotides of the first embodiment, wherein the nucleotide sequence contains at least 30, 40, 50, 60, 100, 150, 160, 170, 175, or 200 nucleotides.

In a fifth embodiment, the present invention relates to a method for transforming a cell comprising transforming a cell with any of the isolated polynucleotides of the present invention, and the cell transformed by this method. Advantageously, the cell is eukaryotic, e.g., a yeast or plant cell, or prokaryotic, e.g., a bacterium.

In a sixth embodiment, the present invention relates to a method for producing a transgenic plant comprising transforming a plant cell with any of the isolated polynucleotides of the present invention and regenerating a plant from the transformed plant cell. The invention also concerns the transgenic plant produced by this method, and the seed obtained from this transgenic plant.

In a seventh embodiment, the present invention concerns an isolated polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence comprising at least 50, 100, 150, 160, 170, 175, or 200, amino acids, wherein the amino acid sequence and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 54, 56, 58, or 60 have at least 80%, 85%, 90%, or 95% identity based on the Clustal alignment method. The amino acid sequence preferably comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 54, 56, 58, or 60. The polypeptide preferably is a FT, TFL or Ap3 homolog.

In an eighth embodiment, the invention concerns a method for isolating a polypeptide encoded by the polynucleotide of the present invention comprising isolating the polypeptide from a cell containing a recombinant DNA construct comprising the polynucleotide operably linked to a regulatory sequence.

In a ninth embodiment, the present invention relates to a virus, preferably a baculovirus, comprising any of the isolated polynucleotides of the present invention or any of the recombinant DNA constructs of the present invention.

In a tenth embodiment, the invention relates to a method of selecting an isolated polynucleotide that affects the level of expression of a gene encoding a FT, TFL or Ap3 homolog protein or activity in a host cell, preferably a plant cell, the method comprising the steps of: (a) constructing an isolated polynucleotide of the present invention or an isolated recombinant DNA construct of the present invention; (b) introducing the isolated polynucleotide or the isolated recombinant DNA construct into a host cell; (c) measuring the level of the FT, TFL or Ap3 homolog protein or activity in the host cell containing the isolated polynucleotide; and (d) comparing the level of the FT, TFL or Ap3 homolog protein or activity in the host cell containing the isolated polynucleotide with the level of the FT, TFL or Ap3 homolog protein or activity in the host cell that does not contain the isolated polynucleotide.

In an eleventh embodiment, the invention concerns a method of obtaining a nucleic acid fragment encoding a substantial portion of a FT, TFL or Ap3 homolog protein, preferably a plant FT, TFL or Ap3 homolog protein comprising the steps of: synthesizing an oligonucleotide primer comprising a nucleotide sequence of at least 30 (preferably at least 40, most preferably at least 60) contiguous nucleotides derived from a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 37, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 49, 53, 55, 57, or 59, and the complement of such nucleotide sequences; and amplifying a nucleic acid fragment (preferably a cDNA inserted in a cloning vector) using the oligonucleotide primer. The amplified nucleic acid fragment preferably will encode a substantial portion of a FT, TFL or Ap3 homolog amino acid sequence.

In a twelfth embodiment, this invention relates to a method of obtaining a nucleic acid fragment encoding all or a substantial portion of the amino acid sequence encoding a FT, TFL or Ap3 homolog protein comprising the steps of: probing a cDNA or genomic library with an isolated polynucleotide of the present invention; identifying a DNA clone that hybridizes with an isolated polynucleotide of the present invention; isolating the identified DNA clone; and sequencing the cDNA or genomic fragment that comprises the isolated DNA clone.

In a thirteenth embodiment, this invention concerns a method for positive selection of a transformed cell comprising: (a) transforming a host cell with the recombinant DNA construct of the present invention or an expression cassette of the present invention; and (b) growing the transformed host cell, preferably a plant cell, such as a monocot or a dicot, under conditions which allow expression of the FT, TFL or Ap3 homolog polynucleotide in an amount sufficient to complement a null mutant, or a conditional null mutant, to provide a positive selection means.

In a fourteenth embodiment, this invention relates to a method of altering the level of expression of a FT, TFL or Ap3 homolog protein in a host cell comprising: (a) transforming a host cell with a recombinant DNA construct of the present invention; and (b) growing the transformed host cell under conditions that are suitable for expression of the recombinant DNA construct wherein expression of the recombinant DNA construct results in production of altered levels of the FT, TFL or Ap3 homolog protein in the transformed host cell.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS AND SEQUENCE LISTINGS

The invention can be more fully understood from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings and Sequence Listing which form a part of this application.

FIG. 1 depicts an alignment of amino acid sequences of FT homologs encoded by nucleotide sequences derived from a contig assembled from balsam pear clones fds.pk0003.h2, fds.pk0026.d10, and fds1n.pk001.p18 (SEQ ID NO:4), garden balsam clone ids.pk0031.a5 (SEQ ID NO:6), contig assembled from corn clones cbn10.pk0052.f5, cbn2.pk0035.f12, cco1n.pk0010.h3, p0095.cwsas14f, p0119.cmtmg45rb, and p0128.cpicl42r (SEQ ID NO:8), corn clone cc71se-b.pk0003.h10 (SEQ ID NO:10), corn clone cco1n.pk0037.d10 (SEQ ID NO:12), contig assembled from corn clones cen3n.pk0004.e9, cen3n.pk0047.h7, cen3n.pk0093.f1, cen3n.pk0165.f1, and p0120.cdeae63r (SEQ ID NO:14), corn clone p0014.ctush42r (SEQ ID NO:16), corn clone p0081.chcad07r (SEQ ID NO:18), corn clone p0104.cabak14rb (SEQ ID NO:20), corn clone p0118.chsaq04rb (SEQ ID NO:22), rice clone rls24.pk0017.c7 (SEQ ID NO:30), rice clone rr1.pk0043.f9 (SEQ ID NO:32), contig assembled from soybean clones se3.pk0036.g4 and se6.pk0039.h6 (SEQ ID NO:36), soybean clone srr2c.pk002.o7 (SEQ ID NO:38), contig assembled from soybean clone ssl.pk0007.a9 and a PCR fragment sequence (SEQ ID NO:40), wheat clone wdk2c.pk012.o17 (SEQ ID NO:42), and wheat clone wdk9n1.pk001.o20 (SEQ ID NO:44) and Oryza sativa (NCBI GI No. 5360178; SEQ ID NO:51). Amino acids which are conserved among all and at least two sequences with an amino acid at that position are indicated with an asterisk (*). Dashes are used by the program to maximize alignment of the sequences.

FIG. 2 depicts an alignment of amino acid sequences of Ap3 homologs encoded by nucleotide sequences derived from corn clone cta1n.pk0050.f8 (SEQ ID NO:46), corn clone ctnlc.pk002.j23 (SEQ ID NO:48), soybean clone sf1n.pk001.I16 (SEQ ID NO:50), and Oryza sativa (NCBI GI No. 5295980; SEQ ID NO:52). Amino acids which are conserved among all and at least two sequences with an amino acid at that position are indicated with an asterisk (*). Dashes are used by the program to maximize alignment of the sequences.

FIG. 3 delineated a phylogenetic analysis of the family of membrane-associated phosphatidylethanolamine-binding proteins. The phylogenetic tree was constructed by the maximum parsimony methods. The phylogram clearly delimits two major clades that correspond to FT and TFL proteins.

FIG. 4 diagrams the genomic structures of the FT/TFL sequences.

The genomic region of ZmFT1 (SEQ ID NO: 63) is composed of a promoter (1-2211 nt), 5′UTR (2212-2385 nt), exon 1 (2386-3580 nt), exon 2 (2741-2802 nt), exon 3 (9718-9760 nt), exon 4 (9845-10067), 3′UTR (10067-10316).

The genomic region of ZmFT2 (SEQ ID NO: 64) is composed of 5′UTR (1-93), exon1 (94-293), exon2 (468-525), exon3 (765-806), exon 4 (1411-1651), 3′UTR (1652-1840).

The genomic region of ZmFT3 (SEQ ID NO: 65) is composed of a promoter (286-4375 nt), 5′UTR (4376-4542 nt), exon 1 (4543-4743 nt), exon 2 (4894-4953 nt), exon 3 (5688-5728 nt), exon 4 (6166-6396 nt), 3′UTR (6397-6860).

The genomic region of ZmTFL1 (SEQ ID NO: 66) is composed of two copies of ZmTFL1 gene arranged in a perfect tandem. The first copy has a partial promoter (1-562 nt), 5′UTR (486-563 nt), exon 1 (564-763 nt), exon 2 (846-9907 nt), exon 3 (1056-1096 nt), exon 4 (1176-1364 nt), 3′UTR (1395-1611 nt), 3′ downstream segment (1612-2435 nt). The second copy begins from 2436 nt and shows the identical structure as the first one. Genomic organization of ZmTFL1 gene is an example of an unusual configuration of a tandem array of two gene copies. The unit length in tandem is 2292 nt, which include a 5′upstream sequence (364 nt), exon/intron genic segment (1116 nt) and 3′downstream sequence (812 nt). A promoter for the second ZmTFL1 copy may be defined between nucleotides 1611 and 2435 (824 nt total length). Almost identical nucleotide sequences of both units suggest a very recent duplication of ZmTFL1 gene in Mol 7 genome.

Genomic region of ZmTFL2 (SEQ ID NO: 67) is composed of a promoter (1-1450 nt), 5′UTR (1451-1518 nt), exon 1 (1519-1780 nt), exon 2 (2097-2137 nt), exon 3 (2309-2595 nt), 3′UTR (2596-2881 nt).

Table 1 lists the polypeptides that are described herein, the designation of the cDNA clones that comprise the nucleic acid fragments encoding polypeptides representing all or a substantial portion of these polypeptides, and the corresponding identifier (SEQ ID NO:) as used in the attached Sequence Listing. The sequence descriptions and Sequence Listing attached hereto comply with the rules governing nucleotide and/or amino acid sequence disclosures in patent applications as set forth in 37 C.F.R. §1.821-1.825. TABLE 1 Floral Development Proteins SEQ ID NO: (Amino Protein (Plant Source) Clone Designation (Nucleotide) Acid) FT Homolog eal1c.pk006.e6 1 2 (Peruvian Lily) FT Homolog Contig of 3 4 (Balsam Pear) fds.pk0003.h2 fds.pk0026.d10 fds1n.pk001.p18 FT Homolog (Garden ids.pk0031.a5 5 6 Balsam) FT Homolog (Corn) Contig of 7 8 cbn10.pk0052.f5 cbn2.pk0035.f12 cco1n.pk0010.h3 p0095.cwsas14f p0119.cmtmg45rb p0128.cpicl42r FT Homolog (Corn) cc71se-b.pk0003.h10 9 10 FT Homolog (Corn) cco1n.pk0037.d10 11 12 FT Homolog (Corn) Contig of 13 14 cen3n.pk0004.e9 cen3n.pk0047.h7 cen3n.pk0093.f1 cen3n.pk0165.f1 p0120.cdeae63r FT Homolog (Corn) p0014.ctush42r 15 16 FT Homolog (Corn) p0081.chcad07r 17 18 FT Homolog (Corn) p0104.cabak14rb 19 20 FT Homolog (Corn) p0118.chsaq04rb 21 22 FT Homolog (Rice) rbm1c.pk001.a6 23 24 FT Homolog (Rice) Contig of 25 26 rl0n.pk0022.h10 rl0n.pk0022.h11 FT Homolog (Rice) rlr48.pk0001.b1 27 28 FT Homolog (Rice) rls24.pk0017.c7 29 30 FT Homolog (Rice) rr1.pk0043.f9 31 32 FT Homolog (Rice) rsr9n.pk001.d1 33 34 FT Homolog (Soybean) Contig of 35 36 se3.pk0036.g4 se6.pk0039.h6 FT Homolog (Soybean) srr2c.pk002.o7 37 38 FT Homolog (Soybean) Contig of 39 40 ssl.pk0007.a9 PCR fragment sequence FT Homolog (Wheat) wdk2c.pk012.o17 41 42 FT Homolog (Wheat) wdk9n1.pk001.o20 43 44 Ap3 Homolog (Corn) cta1n.pk0050.f8 45 46 Ap3 Homolog (Corn) ctn1c.pk002.j23 47 48 Ap3 Homolog (Soybean) sfl1n.pk001.l16 49 50 FT Homolog (Corn) cta1n.pk0058.d11b 53 54 FT Homolog (Rice) rbm1c.pk001.a6:fis 55 56 FT Homolog (Rice) rl0n.pk0022.h10:fis 57 58 FT Homolog (Rice) rsr9n.pk001.d1:fis 59 60 FT Homolog 61 (Arabiopsis) FT Homolog (Rice) 62 FT Homolog (Corn) 63 FT Homolog (Corn 64 FT Homolog (Corn) 65 TFL Homolog (Corn) 66 TFL Homolog (Corn) 67

The Sequence Listing contains the one letter code for nucleotide sequence characters and the three letter codes for amino acids as defined in conformity with the IUPAC-IUBMB standards described in Nucleic Acids Res. 13:3021-3030 (1985) and in the Biochemical J. 219 (No. 2):345-373 (1984) which are herein incorporated by reference. The symbols and format used for nucleotide and amino acid sequence data comply with the rules set forth in 37 C.F.R. §1.822.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the context of this disclosure, a number of terms shall be utilized. The terms “polynucleotide”, “polynucleotide sequence”, “nucleic acid sequence”, and “nucleic acid fragment”/“isolated nucleic acid fragment” are used interchangeably herein. These terms encompass nucleotide sequences and the like. A polynucleotide may be a polymer of RNA or DNA that is single- or double-stranded, that optionally contains synthetic, non-natural or altered nucleotide bases. A polynucleotide in the form of a polymer of DNA may be comprised of one or more segments of cDNA, genomic DNA, synthetic DNA, or mixtures thereof. An isolated polynucleotide of the present invention may include at least 30 contiguous nucleotides, preferably at least 40 contiguous nucleotides, most preferably at least 60 contiguous nucleotides derived from SEQ ID NO:1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 37, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 49, 53, 55, 57, 59, 63, 64, 65, 66 or 67 or the complement of such sequences.

The term “isolated” refers to materials, such as nucleic acid molecules and/or proteins, which are substantially free or otherwise removed from components that normally accompany or interact with the materials in a naturally occurring environment. Isolated polynucleotides may be purified from a host cell in which they naturally occur. Conventional nucleic acid purification methods known to skilled artisans may be used to obtain isolated polynucleotides. The term also embraces recombinant polynucleotides and chemically synthesized polynucleotides.

The term “recombinant” means, for example, that a nucleic acid sequence is made by an artificial combination of two otherwise separated segments of sequence, e.g., by chemical synthesis or by the manipulation of isolated nucleic acids by genetic engineering techniques.

As used herein, “contig” refers to a nucleotide sequence that is assembled from two or more constituent nucleotide sequences that share common or overlapping regions of sequence homology. For example, the nucleotide sequences of two or more nucleic acid fragments can be compared and aligned in order to identify common or overlapping sequences. Where common or overlapping sequences exist between two or more nucleic acid fragments, the sequences (and thus their corresponding nucleic acid fragments) can be assembled into a single contiguous nucleotide sequence.

As used herein, “substantially similar” refers to nucleic acid fragments wherein changes in one or more nucleotide bases results in substitution of one or more amino acids, but do not affect the functional properties of the polypeptide encoded by the nucleotide sequence. “Substantially similar” also refers to nucleic acid fragments wherein changes in one or more nucleotide bases does not affect the ability of the nucleic acid fragment to mediate alteration of gene expression by gene silencing through for example antisense or co-suppression technology. “Substantially similar” also refers to modifications of the nucleic acid fragments of the instant invention such as deletion or insertion of one or more nucleotides that do not substantially affect the functional properties of the resulting transcript vis-à-vis the ability to mediate gene silencing or alteration of the functional properties of the resulting protein molecule. It is therefore understood that the invention encompasses more than the specific exemplary nucleotide or amino acid sequences and includes functional equivalents thereof. The terms “substantially similar” and “corresponding substantially” are used interchangeably herein.

Substantially similar nucleic acid fragments may be selected by screening nucleic acid fragments representing subfragments or modifications of the nucleic acid fragments of the instant invention, wherein one or more nucleotides are substituted, deleted and/or inserted, for their ability to affect the level of the polypeptide encoded by the unmodified nucleic acid fragment in a plant or plant cell. For example, a substantially similar nucleic acid fragment representing at least 30 contiguous nucleotides, preferably at least 40 contiguous nucleotides, most preferably at least 60 contiguous nucleotides derived from the instant nucleic acid fragment can be constructed and introduced into a plant or plant cell. The level of the polypeptide encoded by the unmodified nucleic acid fragment present in a plant or plant cell exposed to the substantially similar nucleic fragment can then be compared to the level of the polypeptide in a plant or plant cell that is not exposed to the substantially similar nucleic acid fragment.

For example, it is well known in the art that antisense suppression and co-suppression of gene expression may be accomplished using nucleic acid fragments representing less than the entire coding region of a gene, and by using nucleic acid fragments that do not share 100% sequence identity with the gene to be suppressed. Moreover, alterations in a nucleic acid fragment which result in the production of a chemically equivalent amino acid at a given site, but do not effect the functional properties of the encoded polypeptide, are well known in the art. Thus, a codon for the amino acid alanine, a hydrophobic amino acid, may be substituted by a codon encoding another less hydrophobic residue, such as glycine, or a more hydrophobic residue, such as valine, leucine, or isoleucine. Similarly, changes which result in substitution of one negatively charged residue for another, such as aspartic acid for glutamic acid, or one positively charged residue for another, such as lysine for arginine, can also be expected to produce a functionally equivalent product. Nucleotide changes which result in alteration of the N-terminal and C-terminal portions of the polypeptide molecule would also not be expected to alter the activity of the polypeptide. Each of the proposed modifications is well within the routine skill in the art, as is determination of retention of biological activity of the encoded products. Consequently, an isolated polynucleotide comprising a nucleotide sequence of at least 30 (preferably at least 40, most preferably at least 60) contiguous nucleotides derived from a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 37, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 49, 53, 55, 57, 59, 63, 64, 65, 66 or 67, and the complement of such nucleotide sequences may be used to affect the expression and/or function of a FT, TFL or Ap3 homolog in a host cell. A method of using an isolated polynucleotide to affect the level of expression of a polypeptide in a host cell (eukaryotic, such as plant or yeast, prokaryotic such as bacterial) may comprise the steps of: constructing an isolated polynucleotide of the present invention or an isolated chimeric gene of the present invention; introducing the isolated polynucleotide or the isolated chimeric gene into a host cell; measuring the level of a polypeptide or enzyme activity in the host cell containing the isolated polynucleotide; and comparing the level of a polypeptide or enzyme activity in the host cell containing the isolated polynucleotide with the level of a polypeptide or enzyme activity in a host cell that does not contain the isolated polynucleotide.

Moreover, substantially similar nucleic acid fragments may also be characterized by their ability to hybridize. Estimates of such homology are provided by either DNA-DNA or DNA-RNA hybridization under conditions of stringency as is well understood by those skilled in the art (Hames and Higgins, Eds. (1985) Nucleic Acid Hybridisation, IRL Press, Oxford, U.K.). Stringency conditions can be adjusted to screen for moderately similar fragments, such as homologous sequences from distantly related organisms, to highly similar fragments, such as genes that duplicate functional enzymes from closely related organisms. Post-hybridization washes determine stringency conditions. One set of preferred conditions uses a series of washes starting with 6×SSC, 0.5% SDS at room temperature for 15 min, then repeated with 2×SSC, 0.5% SDS at 45° C. for 30 min, and then repeated twice with 0.2×SSC, 0.5% SDS at 50° C. for 30 min. A more preferred set of stringent conditions uses higher temperatures in which the washes are identical to those above except for the temperature of the final two 30 min washes in 0.2×SSC, 0.5% SDS was increased to 60° C. Another preferred set of highly stringent conditions uses two final washes in 0.1×SSC, 0.1% SDS at 65° C.

Substantially similar nucleic acid fragments of the instant invention may also be characterized by the percent identity of the amino acid sequences that they encode to the amino acid sequences disclosed herein, as determined by algorithms commonly employed by those skilled in this art. Suitable nucleic acid fragments (isolated polynucleotides of the present invention) encode polypeptides that are at least about 70% identical, preferably at least about 80% identical to the amino acid sequences reported herein. Preferred nucleic acid fragments encode amino acid sequences that are at least about 85% identical to the amino acid sequences reported herein. More preferred nucleic acid fragments encode amino acid sequences that are at least about 90% identical to the amino acid sequences reported herein. Most preferred are nucleic acid fragments that encode amino acid sequences that are at least about 95% identical to the amino acid sequences reported herein. Suitable nucleic acid fragments not only have the above identities but typically encode a polypeptide having at least 50 amino acids, preferably at least 100 amino acids, more preferably at least 150 amino acids, still more preferably at least 200 amino acids, and most preferably at least 250 amino acids. Sequence alignments and percent identity calculations were performed using the Megalign program of the LASERGENE bioinformatics computing suite (DNASTAR Inc., Madison, Wis.). Multiple alignment of the sequences was performed using the Clustal method of alignment (Higgins and Sharp (1989) CABIOS. 5:151-153) with the default parameters (GAP PENALTY=10, GAP LENGTH PENALTY=10). Default parameters for pairwise alignments using the Clustal method were KTUPLE 1, GAP PENALTY=3, WINDOW=5 and DIAGONALS SAVED=5.

A “substantial portion” of an amino acid or nucleotide sequence comprises an amino acid or a nucleotide sequence that is sufficient to afford putative identification of the protein or gene that the amino acid or nucleotide sequence comprises. Amino acid and nucleotide sequences can be evaluated either manually by one skilled in the art, or by using computer-based sequence comparison and identification tools that employ algorithms such as BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool; Altschul et al. (1993) J. Mol. Biol. 215:403-410; see also the explanation of the BLAST alogarithm on the world wide web site for the National Center for Biotechnology Information at the National Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health). In general, a sequence of ten or more contiguous amino acids or thirty or more contiguous nucleotides is necessary in order to putatively identify a polypeptide or nucleic acid sequence as homologous to a known protein or gene. Moreover, with respect to nucleotide sequences, gene-specific oligonucleotide probes comprising 30 or more contiguous nucleotides may be used in sequence-dependent methods of gene identification (e.g., Southern hybridization) and isolation (e.g., in situ hybridization of bacterial colonies or bacteriophage plaques). In addition, short oligonucleotides of 12 or more nucleotides may be used as amplification primers in PCR in order to obtain a particular nucleic acid fragment comprising the primers. Accordingly, a “substantial portion” of a nucleotide sequence comprises a nucleotide sequence that will afford specific identification and/or isolation of a nucleic acid fragment comprising the sequence. The instant specification teaches amino acid and nucleotide sequences encoding polypeptides that comprise one or more particular plant proteins. The skilled artisan, having the benefit of the sequences as reported herein, may now use all or a substantial portion of the disclosed sequences for purposes known to those skilled in this art. Accordingly, the instant invention comprises the complete sequences as reported in the accompanying Sequence Listing, as well as substantial portions of those sequences as defined-above.

“Codon degeneracy” refers to divergence in the genetic code permitting variation of the nucleotide sequence without effecting the amino acid sequence of an encoded polypeptide. Accordingly, the instant invention relates to any nucleic acid fragment comprising a nucleotide sequence that encodes all or a substantial portion of the amino acid sequences set forth herein. The skilled artisan is well aware of the “codon-bias” exhibited by a specific host cell in usage of nucleotide codons to specify a given amino acid. Therefore, when synthesizing a nucleic acid fragment for improved expression in a host cell, it is desirable to design the nucleic acid fragment such that its frequency of codon usage approaches the frequency of preferred codon usage of the host cell.

“Synthetic nucleic acid fragments” can be assembled from oligonucleotide building blocks that are chemically synthesized using procedures known to those skilled in the art. These building blocks are ligated and annealed to form larger nucleic acid fragments which may then be enzymatically assembled to construct the entire desired nucleic acid fragment. “Chemically synthesized”, as related to a nucleic acid fragment, means that the component nucleotides were assembled in vitro. Manual chemical synthesis of nucleic acid fragments may be accomplished using well established procedures, or automated chemical synthesis can be performed using one of a number of commercially available machines. Accordingly, the nucleic acid fragments can be tailored for optimal gene expression based on optimization of the nucleotide sequence to reflect the codon bias of the host cell. The skilled artisan appreciates the likelihood of successful gene expression if codon usage is biased towards those codons favored by the host. Determination of preferred codons can be based on a survey of genes derived from the host cell where sequence information is available.

“Gene” refers to a nucleic acid fragment that expresses a specific protein, including regulatory sequences preceding (5′ non-coding sequences) and following (3′ non-coding sequences) the coding sequence. “Native gene” refers to a gene as found in nature with its own regulatory sequences. “Chimeric gene” refers any gene that is not a native gene, comprising regulatory and coding sequences that are not found together in nature. Accordingly, a chimeric gene may comprise regulatory sequences and coding sequences that are derived from different sources, or regulatory sequences and coding sequences derived from the same source, but arranged in a manner different than that found in nature. “Endogenous gene” refers to a native gene in its natural location in the genome of an organism. A “foreign-gene” refers to a gene not normally found in the host organism, but that is introduced into the host organism by gene transfer. Foreign genes can comprise native genes inserted into a non-native organism, or chimeric genes. A “transgene” is a gene that has been introduced into the genome by a transformation procedure.

“Coding sequence” refers to a nucleotide sequence that codes for a specific amino acid sequence. “Regulatory sequences” refer to nucleotide sequences located upstream (5′ non-coding sequences), within, or downstream (3′ non-coding sequences) of a coding sequence, and which influence the transcription, RNA processing or stability, or translation of the associated coding sequence. Regulatory sequences may include promoters, translation leader sequences, introns, and polyadenylation recognition sequences.

“Promoter” refers to a nucleotide sequence capable of controlling the expression of a coding sequence or functional RNA. In general, a coding sequence is located 3′ to a promoter sequence. The promoter sequence consists of proximal and more distal upstream elements, the latter elements often referred to as enhancers. Accordingly, an “enhancer” is a nucleotide sequence which can stimulate promoter activity and may be an innate element of the promoter or a heterologous element inserted to enhance the level or tissue-specificity of a promoter. Promoters may be derived in their entirety from a native gene, or may be composed of different elements derived from different promoters found in nature, or may even comprise synthetic nucleotide segments. It is understood by those skilled in the art that different promoters may direct the expression of a gene in different tissues or cell types, or at different stages of development, or in response to different environmental conditions. Promoters which cause a nucleic acid fragment to be expressed in most cell types at most times are commonly referred to as “constitutive promoters”. New promoters of various types useful in plant cells are constantly being discovered; numerous examples may be found in the compilation by Okamuro and Goldberg (1989) Biochemistry of Plants 15:1-82. It is further recognized that since in most cases the exact boundaries of regulatory sequences have not been completely defined, nucleic acid fragments of different lengths may have identical promoter activity.

“Translation leader sequence” refers to a nucleotide sequence located between the promoter sequence of a gene and the coding sequence. The translation leader sequence is present in the fully processed mRNA upstream of the translation start sequence. The translation leader sequence may affect processing of the primary transcript to mRNA, mRNA stability or translation efficiency. Examples of translation leader sequences have been described (Turner and Foster (1995) Mol. Biotechnol. 3:225-236).

“3′ non-coding sequences” refer to nucleotide sequences located downstream of a coding sequence and include polyadenylation recognition sequences and other sequences encoding regulatory signals capable of affecting mRNA processing or gene expression. The polyadenylation signal is usually characterized by affecting the addition of polyadenylic acid tracts to the 3′ end of the mRNA precursor. The use of different 3′ non-coding sequences is exemplified by Ingelbrecht et al. (1989) Plant Cell 1:671-680.

“RNA transcript” refers to the product resulting from RNA polymerase-catalyzed transcription of a DNA sequence. When the RNA transcript is a perfect complementary copy of the DNA sequence, it is referred to as the primary transcript or it may be a RNA sequence derived from post-transcriptional processing of the primary transcript and is referred to as the mature RNA. “Messenger RNA (mRNA)” refers to the RNA that is without introns and that can be translated into polypeptides by the cell. “cDNA” refers to DNA that is complementary to and derived from an mRNA template. The cDNA can be single-stranded or converted to double stranded form using, for example, the Klenow fragment of DNA polymerase 1. “Sense-RNA” refers to an RNA transcript that includes the mRNA and so can be translated into a polypeptide by the cell. “Antisense RNA” refers to an RNA transcript that is complementary to all or part of a target primary transcript or mRNA and that blocks the expression of a target gene (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,107,065, incorporated herein by reference). The complementarity of an antisense RNA may be with any part of the specific nucleotide sequence, i.e., at the 5′ non-coding sequence, 3′ non-coding sequence, introns, or the coding sequence. “Functional RNA” refers to sense RNA, antisense RNA, ribozyme RNA, or other RNA that may not be translated but yet has an effect on cellular processes.

The term “operably linked” refers to the association of two or more nucleic acid fragments on a single polynucleotide so that the function of one is affected by the other. For example, a promoter is operably linked with a coding sequence when it is capable of affecting the expression of that coding sequence (i.e., that the coding sequence is under the transcriptional control of the promoter). Coding sequences can be operably linked to regulatory sequences in sense or antisense orientation.

The term “expression”, as used herein, refers to the transcription and stable accumulation of sense (mRNA) or antisense RNA derived from the nucleic acid fragment of the invention. Expression may also refer to translation of mRNA into a polypeptide. “Antisense inhibition” refers to the production of antisense RNA transcripts capable of suppressing the expression of the target protein. “Overexpression” refers to the production of a gene product in transgenic organisms that exceeds levels of production in normal or non-transformed organisms. “Co-suppression” refers to the production of sense RNA transcripts capable of suppressing the expression of identical or substantially similar foreign or endogenous genes (U.S. Pat. No. 5,231,020, incorporated herein by reference).

A “protein” or “polypeptide” is a chain of amino acids arranged in a specific order determined by the coding sequence in a polynucleotide encoding the polypeptide. Each protein or polypeptide has a unique function.

“Altered levels” or “altered expression” refers to the production of gene product(s) in transgenic organisms in amounts or proportions that differ from that of normal or non-transformed organisms.

“Mature protein” or the term “mature” when used in describing a protein refers to a post-translationally processed polypeptide; i.e., one from which any pre- or propeptides present in the primary translation product have been removed. “Precursor protein” or the term “precursor” when used in describing a protein refers to the primary product of translation of mRNA; i.e., with pre- and propeptides still present. Pre- and propeptides may be but are not limited to intracellular localization signals.

A “chloroplast transit peptide” is an amino acid sequence which is translated in conjunction with a protein and directs the protein to the chloroplast or other plastid types present in the cell in which the protein is made. “Chloroplast transit sequence” refers to a nucleotide sequence that encodes a chloroplast transit peptide. A “signal peptide” is an amino acid sequence which is translated in conjunction with a protein and directs the protein to the secretory system (Chrispeels (1991) Ann. Rev. Plant Phys. Plant Mol. Biol. 42:21-53). If the protein is to be directed to a vacuole, a vacuolar targeting signal (supra) can further be added, or if to the endoplasmic reticulum, an endoplasmic reticulum retention signal (supra) may be added. If the protein is to be directed to the nucleus, any signal peptide present should be removed and instead a nuclear localization signal included (Raikhel (1992) Plant Phys. 100:1627-1632).

“Transformation” refers to the transfer of a nucleic acid fragment into the genome of a host organism, resulting in genetically stable inheritance. Host organisms containing the transformed nucleic acid fragments are referred to as “transgenic” organisms. Examples of methods of plant transformation include Agrobacterium-mediated transformation (De Blaere et al. (1987) Meth. Enzymol. 143:277) and particle-accelerated or “gene gun” transformation technology (Klein et al. (1987) Nature (London) 327:70-73; U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,050, incorporated herein by reference). Thus, isolated polynucleotides of the present invention can be incorporated into recombinant constructs, typically DNA constructs, capable of introduction into and replication in a host cell. Such a construct can be a vector that includes a replication system and sequences that are capable of transcription and translation of a polypeptide-encoding sequence in a given host cell. A number of vectors suitable for stable transfection of plant cells or for the establishment of transgenic plants have been described in, e.g., Pouwels et al., Cloning Vectors: A Laboratory Manual, 1985, supp. 1987; Weissbach and Weissbach, Methods for Plant Molecular Biology, Academic Press, 1989; and Flevin et al., Plant Molecular Biology Manual, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1990. Typically, plant expression vectors include, for example, one or more cloned plant genes under the transcriptional control of 5′ and 3′ regulatory sequences and a dominant selectable marker. Such plant expression vectors also can contain a promoter regulatory region (e.g., a regulatory region controlling inducible or constitutive, environmentally- or developmentally-regulated, or cell- or tissue-specific expression), a transcription initiation start site, a ribosome binding site, an RNA processing signal, a transcription termination site, and/or a polyadenylation signal.

Standard recombinant DNA and molecular cloning techniques used herein are well known in the art and are described more fully in Sambrook et al. Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual; Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press: Cold Spring Harbor, 1989 (hereinafter “Maniatis”).

“PCR” or “polymerase chain reaction” is well known by those skilled in the art as a technique used for the amplification of specific DNA segments (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,683,195 and 4,800,159).

The present invention concerns an isolated polynucleotide comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding a FT, TFL or Ap3 homolog polypeptide having at least 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, or 100% identity, based on the Clustal method of alignment, when compared to a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 54, 56, 58, or 60.

This invention also relates to the isolated complement of such polynucleotides, wherein the complement and the polynucleotide consist of the same number of nucleotides, and the nucleotide sequences of the complement and the polynucleotide have 100% complementarity.

Nucleic acid fragments encoding at least a portion of several floral development proteins have been isolated and identified by comparison of random plant cDNA sequences to public databases containing nucleotide and protein sequences using the BLAST algorithms well known to those skilled in the art. The nucleic acid fragments of the instant invention may be used to isolate cDNAs and genes encoding homologous proteins from the same or other plant species. Isolation of homologous genes using sequence-dependent protocols is well known in the art. Examples of sequence-dependent protocols include, but are not limited to, methods of nucleic acid hybridization, and methods of DNA and RNA amplification as exemplified by various uses of nucleic acid amplification technologies (e.g., polymerase chain reaction, ligase chain reaction).

For example, genes encoding other FT, TFL or Ap3 homolog, either as cDNAs or genomic DNAs, could be isolated directly by using all or a portion of the instant nucleic acid fragments as DNA hybridization probes to screen libraries from any desired plant employing methodology well known to those skilled in the art. Specific oligonucleotide probes based upon the instant nucleic acid sequences can be designed and synthesized by methods known in the art (Maniatis). Moreover, an entire sequence can be used directly to synthesize DNA probes by methods known to the skilled artisan such as random primer DNA labeling, nick translation, end-labeling techniques, or RNA probes using available in vitro transcription systems. In addition, specific primers can be designed and used to amplify a part or all of the instant sequences. The resulting amplification products can be labeled directly during amplification reactions or labeled after amplification reactions, and used as probes to isolate full length cDNA or genomic fragments under conditions of appropriate stringency.

In addition, two short segments of the instant nucleic acid fragments may be used in polymerase chain reaction protocols to amplify longer nucleic acid fragments encoding homologous genes from DNA or RNA. The polymerase chain reaction may also be performed on a library of cloned nucleic acid fragments wherein the sequence of one primer is derived from the instant nucleic acid fragments, and the sequence of the other primer takes advantage of the presence of the polyadenylic acid tracts to the 3′ end of the mRNA precursor encoding plant genes. Alternatively, the second primer sequence may be based upon sequences derived from the cloning vector. For example, the skilled artisan can follow the RACE protocol (Frohman et al. (1988) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85:8998-9002) to generate cDNAs by using PCR to amplify copies of the region between a single point in the transcript and the 3′ or 5′ end. Primers oriented in the 3′ and 5′ directions can be designed from the instant sequences. Using commercially available 3′ RACE or 5′ RACE systems (BRL), specific 3′ or 5′ cDNA fragments can be isolated (Ohara et al. (1989) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86:5673-5677; Loh et al. (1989) Science 243:217-220). Products generated by the 3′ and 5′ RACE procedures can be combined to generate full-length cDNAs (Frohman and Martin (1989) Techniques 1:165). Consequently, a polynucleotide comprising a nucleotide sequence of at least 30 (preferably at least 40, most preferably at least 60) contiguous nucleotides derived from a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 37, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 49, 53, 55, 57, 59, 63, 64, 65, 66 or 67 and the complement of such nucleotide sequences may be used in such methods to obtain a nucleic acid fragment encoding a substantial portion of an amino acid sequence of a polypeptide.

Availability of the instant nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences facilitates immunological screening of cDNA expression libraries. Synthetic peptides representing portions of the instant amino acid sequences may be synthesized. These peptides can be used to immunize animals to produce polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies with specificity for peptides or proteins comprising the amino acid sequences. These antibodies can be then be used to screen cDNA expression libraries to isolate full-length cDNA clones of interest (Lerner (1984) Adv. Immunol. 36:1-34; Maniatis).

In another embodiment, this invention concerns viruses and host cells comprising either the chimeric genes of the invention as described herein or an isolated polynucleotide of the invention as described herein. Examples of host cells which can be used to practice the invention include, but are not limited to, yeast, bacteria, and plants.

As was noted above, the nucleic acid fragments of the instant invention may be used to create transgenic plants in which the disclosed polypeptides are present at higher or lower levels than normal or in cell types or developmental stages in which they are not normally found. This would have the effect of altering floral development and/or axillary meristems in transgenic plants. For instance, FT is an activator of flowering, while FT-like proteins (TFL) are repressor of flowering. Inhibition of TFL, or over-expression of FT, by chemical treatment, co-suppression, or mutation leads to a proliferation of flower formation which is useful for seed yield in crops such as corn, soybean, rice, and wheat. Over-expression of TFL, or inhibition of FT, suppresses flower formation which is useful for crops such as spinach or lettuce where leaves are desired and seed formation is not. The use of conditional promoters to control FT or TFL expression allows one to control the timing of flower formation, to delay flowering when vegetative growth is advantageous, or accelerate flowering in breeding where reduced generation time is desired. AP3 is required for the determination of the second and third whorls of the floral meristem which give rise to the petals and stamen. Suppression of AP3 has the effect of creating male-sterile flowers, which is advantageous in crops such as corn where outcrossing can lead to hybrid vigor. Induction of male-sterility in self-pollinating plants such as tomato has great commercial value in terms of breeding.

Overexpression of the proteins of the instant invention may be accomplished by first constructing a chimeric gene in which the coding region is operably linked to a promoter capable of directing expression of a gene in the desired tissues at the desired stage of development. The chimeric gene may comprise promoter sequences and translation leader sequences derived from the same genes. 3′ Non-coding sequences encoding transcription termination signals may also be provided. The instant chimeric gene may also comprise one or more introns in order to facilitate gene expression.

Plasmid vectors comprising the instant isolated polynucleotide (or chimeric gene) may be constructed. The choice of plasmid vector is dependent upon the method that will be used to transform host plants. The skilled artisan is well aware of the genetic elements that must be present on the plasmid vector in order to successfully transform, select and propagate host cells containing the chimeric gene. The skilled artisan will also recognize that different independent transformation events will result in different levels and patterns of expression (Jones et al. (1985) EMBO J. 4:2411-2418; De Almeida et al. (1989) Mol. Gen. Genetics 218:78-86), and thus that multiple events must be screened in order to obtain lines displaying the desired expression level and pattern. Such screening may be accomplished by Southern analysis of DNA, Northern analysis of mRNA expression, Western analysis of protein expression, or phenotypic analysis.

For some applications it may be useful to direct the instant polypeptides to different cellular compartments, or to facilitate its secretion from the cell. It is thus envisioned that the chimeric gene described above may be further supplemented by directing the coding sequence to encode the instant polypeptides with appropriate intracellular targeting sequences such as transit sequences (Keegstra (1989) Cell 56:247-253), signal sequences or sequences encoding endoplasmic reticulum localization (Chrispeels (1991) Ann. Rev. Plant Phys. Plant Mol. Biol. 42:21-53), or nuclear localization signals (Raikhel (1992) Plant Phys.100:1627-1632) with or without removing targeting sequences that are already present. While the references cited give examples of each of these, the list is not exhaustive and more targeting signals of use may be discovered in the future.

Gene or Trait Stacking

In certain embodiments the nucleic acid sequences of the present invention can be stacked with any combination of polynucleotide sequences of interest in order to create plants with a desired phenotype. For example, the polynucleotides of the present invention may be stacked with any other polynucleotides of the present invention, such as any combination of ZmFT1, ZmFT2, and ZmFT3 (SEQ ID NOS: 63, 64, and 65), or with other genes implicated in flower development pathways such as ZmTFL1 or ZmTFL2 (SEQ ID NOS: 66 and 67). The combinations generated can also include multiple copies of any one of the polynucleotides of interest. The polynucleotides of the present invention can also be stacked with any other gene or combination of genes to produce plants with a variety of desired trait combinations including but not limited to traits desirable for animal feed such as high oil genes (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,232,529); balanced amino acids (e.g. hordothionins (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,990,389; 5,885,801; 5,885,802; and 5,703,409); barley high lysine (Williamson et al. (1987) Eur. J. Biochem. 165:99-106; and WO 98/20122); and high methionine proteins (Pedersen et al. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261:6279; Kirihara et al. (1988) Gene 71:359; and Musumura et al. (1989) Plant Mol. Biol. 12: 123)); increased digestibility (e.g., modified storage proteins (U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60,246,455, filed Nov. 11, 2000); and thioredoxins (U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/250,705, filed Dec. 12, 2000)), the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference. The polynucleotides of the present invention can also be stacked with traits desirable for insect, disease or herbicide resistance (e.g. Bacillus thuringiensis toxic proteins (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,366,892; 5,747,450; 5,737,514; 5723,756; 5,593,881; Geiser et al (1986) Gene 48:109); lectins (Van Damme et al. (1994) Plant Mol. Biol. 24:825); fumonisin detoxification genes (U.S. Pat. No. 5,792,931); avirulence and disease resistance genes (Jones et al. (1994) Science 266:789; Martin et al. (1993) Science 262:1432; Mindrinos et al. (1994) Cell 78:1089); acetolactate synthase (ALS) mutants that lead to herbicide resistance such as the S4 and/or Hra mutations; inhibitors of glutamine synthase such as phosphinothricin or basta (e.g., bar gene); and glyphosate resistance (EPSPS gene)); and traits desirable for processing or process products such as high oil (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,232,529); modified oils (e.g., fatty acid desaturase genes (U.S. Pat. No. 5,952,544; WO 94/11516)); modified starches (e.g., ADPG pyrophosphorylases (AGPase), starch synthases (SS), starch branching enzymes (SBE) and starch debranching enzymes (SDBE)); and polymers or bioplastics (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,602,321; beta-ketothiolase, polyhydroxybutyrate synthase, and acetoacetyl-CoA reductase (Schubert et al. (1988) J. Bacteriol. 170:5837-5847) facilitate expression of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs)), the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference. One could also combine the polynucleotides of the present invention with polynucleotides providing agronomic traits such as male sterility (e.g., see U.S. Pat. No. 5,583,210), stalk strength, flowering time, or transformation technology traits such as cell cycle regulation or gene targeting (e.g. WO 99/61619; WO 00/17364; WO 99/25821), the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference.

These stacked combinations can be created by any method including but not limited to cross breeding plants by any conventional or TopCross methodology, or genetic transformation. If the traits are stacked by genetically transforming the plants, the polynucleotide sequences of interest can be combined at any time and in any order. For example, a transgenic plant comprising one or more desired traits can be used as the target to introduce further traits by subsequent transformation. The traits can be introduced simultaneously in a co-transformation protocol with the polynucleotides of interest provided by any combination of transformation cassettes. For example, if two sequences will be introduced, the two sequences can be contained in separate transformation cassettes (trans) or contained on the same transformation cassette (cis). Expression of the sequences can be driven by the same promoter or by different promoters. In certain cases, it may be desirable to introduce a transformation cassette that will suppress the expression of the polynucleotide of interest. This may be combine with any combination of other suppression cassettes or overexpression cassettes to generate the desired combination of traits in the plant.

It may also be desirable to reduce or eliminate expression of genes encoding the instant polypeptides in plants for some applications. In order to accomplish this, a chimeric gene designed for co-suppression of the instant polypeptide can be constructed by linking a gene or gene fragment encoding that polypeptide to plant promoter sequences. Alternatively, a chimeric gene designed to express antisense RNA for all or part of the instant nucleic acid fragment can be constructed by linking the gene or gene fragment in reverse orientation to plant promoter sequences. Either the co-suppression or antisense chimeric genes could be introduced into plants via transformation wherein expression of the corresponding endogenous genes are reduced or eliminated.

Molecular genetic solutions to the generation of plants with altered gene expression have a decided advantage over more traditional plant breeding approaches. Changes in plant phenotypes can be produced by specifically inhibiting expression of one or more genes by antisense inhibition or cosuppression (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,190,931, 5,107,065 and 5,283,323). An antisense or cosuppression construct would act as a dominant negative regulator of gene activity. While conventional mutations can yield negative regulation of gene activity these effects are most likely recessive. The dominant negative regulation available with a transgenic approach may be advantageous from a breeding perspective. In addition, the ability to restrict the expression of a specific phenotype to the reproductive tissues of the plant by the use of tissue specific promoters may confer agronomic advantages relative to conventional mutations which may have an effect in all tissues in which a mutant gene is ordinarily expressed.

The person skilled in the art will know that special considerations are associated with the use of antisense or cosuppression technologies in order to reduce expression of particular genes. For example, the proper level of expression of sense or antisense genes may require the use of different chimeric genes utilizing different regulatory elements known to the skilled artisan. Once transgenic plants are obtained by one of the methods described above, it will be necessary to screen individual transgenics for those that most effectively display the desired phenotype. Accordingly, the skilled artisan will develop methods for screening large numbers of transformants. The nature of these screens will generally be chosen on practical grounds. For example, one can screen by looking for changes in gene expression by using antibodies specific for the protein encoded by the gene being suppressed, or one could establish assays that specifically measure enzyme activity. A preferred method will be one which allows large numbers of samples to be processed rapidly, since it will be expected that a large number of transformants will be negative for the desired phenotype.

In another embodiment, the present invention relates to an isolated polypeptide comprising: (a) a first amino acid sequence comprising at least 50 or 100 amino acids, wherein the first amino acid sequence and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:6, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:26, SEQ ID NO:28, SEQ ID NO:30, SEQ ID NO:34, or SEQ ID NO:42 have at least 80%, 85%, 90%, or 95% identity based on the Clustal alignment method, (b) a second amino acid sequence comprising at least 50 or 100 amino acids, wherein the second amino acid sequence and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 have at least 85%, 90%, or 95% identity based on the Clustal alignment method, (c) a third amino acid sequence comprising at least 100 amino acids, wherein the third amino acid sequence and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:16, or SEQ ID NO:40 have at least 80%, 85%, 90%, or 95% identity based on the Clustal alignment method, (d) a fourth amino acid sequence comprising at least 100 amino acids, wherein the fourth amino acid sequence and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:24 have at least 85%, 90%, or 95% identity based on the Clustal alignment method, (e) a fifth amino acid sequence comprising at least 150 amino acids, wherein the fifth amino acid sequence and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:8 or SEQ ID NO:44 have at least 80%, 85%, 90%, or 95% identity based on the Clustal alignment method, (f) a sixth amino acid sequence comprising at least 150 amino acids, wherein the sixth amino acid sequence and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:38 have at least 85%, 90%, or 95% identity based on the Clustal alignment method, (g) a seventh amino acid sequence comprising at least 150 amino acids, wherein the seventh amino acid sequence and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:50 have at least 90% or 95% identity based on the Clustal alignment method, (h) an eighth amino acid sequence comprising at least 160 amino acids, wherein the eighth amino acid sequence and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:22 or SEQ ID NO:32 have at least 85%, 90%, or 95% identity based on the Clustal alignment method, (i) a ninth amino acid sequence comprising at least 170 amino acids, wherein the ninth amino acid sequence and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:20 have at least 95% identity based on the Clustal alignment method, (j) a tenth amino acid sequence comprising at least 175 amino acids, wherein the tenth amino acid sequence and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:18 have at least 80%, 85%, 90%, or 95% identity based on the Clustal alignment method, or (k) an eleventh amino acid sequence comprising at least 200 amino acids, wherein the eleventh amino acid sequence and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:46 or SEQ ID NO:48 have at least 95% identity based on the Clustal alignment method. The first amino acid sequence preferably comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:6, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:26, SEQ ID NO:28, SEQ ID NO:30, SEQ ID NO:34, or SEQ ID NO:42, the second amino acid sequence preferably comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, the third amino acid sequence preferably comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:16, or SEQ ID NO:40, the fourth amino acid sequence preferably comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:24, the fifth amino acid sequence preferably comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:8 or SEQ ID NO:44, the sixth amino acid sequence preferably comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:38, the seventh amino acid sequence preferably comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:50, the eighth amino acid sequence preferably comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:22 or SEQ ID NO:32, the ninth amino acid sequence preferably comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:20, the tenth amino acid sequence preferably comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:18, and the eleventh amino acid sequence preferably comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:46 or SEQ ID NO:48. The polypeptide preferably is a FT or Ap3 homolog.

The instant polypeptides (or portions thereof) may be produced in heterologous host cells, particularly in the cells of microbial hosts, and can be used to prepare antibodies to these proteins by methods well known to those skilled in the art. The antibodies are useful for detecting the polypeptides of the instant invention in situ in cells or in vitro in cell extracts. Preferred heterologous host cells for production of the instant polypeptides are microbial hosts. Microbial expression systems and expression vectors containing regulatory sequences that direct high level expression of foreign proteins are well known to those skilled in the art. Any of these could be used to construct a chimeric gene for production of the instant polypeptides. This chimeric gene could then be introduced into appropriate microorganisms via transformation to provide high level expression of the encoded floral development protein. An example of a vector for high level expression of the instant polypeptides in a bacterial host is provided (Example 7).

All or a substantial portion of the polynucleotides of the instant invention may also be used as probes for genetically and physically mapping the genes that they are a part of, and used as markers for traits linked to those genes. Such information may be useful in plant breeding in order to develop lines with desired phenotypes. For example, the instant nucleic acid fragments may be used as restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) markers. Southern blots (Maniatis) of restriction-digested plant genomic DNA may be probed with the nucleic acid fragments of the instant invention. The resulting banding patterns may then be subjected to genetic analyses using computer programs such as MapMaker (Lander et al. (1987) Genomics 1:174-181) in orderto construct a genetic map. In addition, the nucleic acid fragments of the instant invention may be used to probe Southern blots containing restriction endonuclease-treated genomic DNAs of a set of individuals representing parent and progeny of a defined genetic cross. Segregation of the DNA polymorphisms is noted and used to calculate the position of the instant nucleic acid sequence in the genetic map previously obtained using this population (Botstein et al. (1980) Am. J. Hum. Genet. 32:314-331).

The production and use of plant gene-derived probes for use in genetic mapping is described in Bernatzky and Tanksley (1986) Plant Mol. Biol. Reporter 4:37-41. Numerous publications describe genetic mapping of specific cDNA clones using the methodology outlined above or variations thereof. For example, F2 intercross populations, backcross populations, randomly mated populations, near isogenic lines, and other sets of individuals may be used for mapping. Such methodologies are well known to those skilled in the art.

Nucleic acid probes derived from the instant nucleic acid sequences may also be used for physical mapping (i.e., placement of sequences on physical maps; see Hoheisel et al. In: Nonmammalian Genomic Analysis: A Practical Guide, Academic press 1996, pp. 319-346, and references cited therein).

Nucleic acid probes derived from the instant nucleic acid sequences may be used in direct fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) mapping (Trask (1991) Trends Genet. 7:149-154). Although current methods of FISH mapping favor use of large clones (several to several hundred KB; see Laan et al. (1995) Genome Res. 5:13-20), improvements in sensitivity may allow performance of FISH mapping using shorter probes.

A variety of nucleic acid amplification-based methods of genetic and physical mapping may be carried out using the instant nucleic acid sequences. Examples include allele-specific amplification (Kazazian (1989) J. Lab. Clin. Med. 11:95-96), polymorphism of PCR-amplified fragments (CAPS; Sheffield et al. (1993) Genomics 16:325-332), allele-specific ligation (Landegren et al. (1988) Science 241:1077-1080), nucleotide extension reactions (Sokolov (1990) Nucleic Acid Res. 18:3671), Radiation Hybrid Mapping (Walter et al. (1997) Nat. Genet. 7:22-28) and Happy Mapping (Dear and Cook (1989) Nucleic Acid Res. 17:6795-6807). For these methods, the sequence of a nucleic acid fragment is used to design and produce primer pairs for use in the amplification reaction or in primer extension reactions. The design of such primers is well known to those skilled in the art. In methods employing PCR-based genetic mapping, it may be necessary to identify DNA sequence differences between the parents of the mapping cross in the region corresponding to the instant nucleic acid sequence. This, however, is generally not necessary for mapping methods.

Loss of function mutant phenotypes may be identified for the instant cDNA clones either by targeted gene disruption protocols or by identifying specific mutants for these genes contained in a maize population carrying mutations in all possible genes (Ballinger and Benzer (1989) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA 86:9402-9406; Koes et al. (1995) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA 92:8149-8153; Bensen et al. (1995) Plant Cell 7:75-84). The latter approach may be accomplished in two ways. First, short segments of the instant nucleic acid fragments may be used in polymerase chain reaction protocols in conjunction with a mutation tag sequence primer on DNAs prepared from a population of plants in which Mutator transposons or some other mutation-causing DNA element has been introduced (see Bensen, supra). The amplification of a specific DNA fragment with these primers indicates the insertion of the mutation tag element in or near the plant gene encoding the instant polypeptides. Alternatively, the instant nucleic acid fragment may be used as a hybridization probe against PCR amplification products generated from the mutation population using the mutation tag sequence primer in conjunction with an arbitrary genomic site primer, such as that for a restriction enzyme site-anchored synthetic adaptor. With either method, a plant containing a mutation in the endogenous gene encoding the instant polypeptides can be identified and obtained. This mutant plant can then be used to determine or confirm the natural function of the instant polypeptides disclosed herein.

EXAMPLES

The present invention is further defined in the following Examples, in which parts and percentages are by weight and degrees are Celsius, unless otherwise stated. It should be understood that these Examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only. From the above discussion and these Examples, one skilled in the art can ascertain the essential characteristics of this invention, and without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, can make various changes and modifications of the invention to adapt it to various usages and conditions. Thus, various modifications of the invention in addition to those shown and described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing description. Such modifications are also intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims.

The disclosure of each reference set forth herein is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Example 1 Composition of cDNA Libraries; Isolation and Sequencing of cDNA Clones

cDNA libraries representing mRNAs from various Peruvian lily (Alstroemeria caryophylla), balsam pear (Momordica charantia), garden balsam (Impatiens balsamia), corn (Zea mays), rice (Oryza sativa), soybean (Glycine max), and wheat (Triticum aestivum) tissues were prepared. The characteristics of the libraries are described below. Corn developmental stages are explained in the publication “How a corn plant develops” from the Iowa State University Coop. Ext. Service Special Report No. 48 reprinted June 1993. TABLE 2 cDNA Libraries from Peruvian Lily, Balsam Pear, Garden Balsam, Corn, Rice, Soybean, and Wheat Library Tissue Clone cbn10 Corn Developing Kernel (Embryo and Endosperm); cbn10.pk0052.f5 10 Days After Pollination cbn2 Corn Developing Kernel Two Days After Pollination cbn2.pk0035.f12 cc71se-b Corn Callus Type II Tissue, Somatic Embryo Formed cc71se- b.pk0003.h10 cco1n Corn Cob of 67 Day Old Plants Grown in Green cco1n.pk0010.h3 House* cco1n.pk0037.d10 cen3n Corn Endosperm 20 Days After Pollination* cen3n.pk0004.e9 cen3n.pk0047.h7 cen3n.pk0093.f1 cen3n.pk0165.f1 cta1n Corn Tassel* cta1n.pk0050.f8 cta1n.pk0058.d11b ctn1c Corn Tassel, Night Harvested ctn1c.pk002.j23 eal1c Peruvian Lily Mature Leaf from Mature Stem eal1c.pk006.e6 fds Balsam Pear Developing Seed fds.pk0003.h2 fds.pk0026.d10 fds1n Balsam Pear Developing Seed fds1n.pk001.p18 ids Garden Balsam Developing Seed ids.pk0031.a5 p0014 Corn Leaf p0014.ctush42r p0081 Corn Pedicel 10 Days After Pollination p0081.chcad07r p0095 Ear Leaf Sheath*; Growth Conditions: Field; Control p0095.cwsas14f or Untreated Tissues; Growth Stage: 2-3 weeks After Pollen Shed p0104 Corn V5-Stage Root Infested With Corn Root Worm* p0104.cabak14rb p0118 Corn Stem Tissue Pooled From the 4-5 Internodes p0118.chsaq04rb Subtending The Tassel At Stages V8-V12, Night Harvested* p0119 Corn V12-Stage Ear Shoot With Husk, Night p0119.cmtmg45rb Harvested* p0120 Pooled Endosperm: 18, 21, 24, 27 and 29 Days After p0120.cdeae63r Pollination* p0128 Corn Primary and Secondary Immature Ear p0128.cpicl42r rbm1c Rice Bran 0 Hrs After Milling rbm1c.pk001.a6 rl0n Rice 15 Day Old Leaf* rl0n.pk0022.h10 rl0n.pk0022.h11 rlr48 Resistant Rice Leaf 15 Days After Germination, 48 rlr48.pk0001.b1 Hours After Infection of Strain Magnaporthe grisea 4360-R-62 (AVR2-YAMO) rls24 Susceptible Rice Leaf 15 Days After Germination, 24 rls24.pk0017.c7 Hours After Infection of Strain Magnaporthe grisea 4360-R-67 (AVR2-YAMO) rr1 Rice Root of Two Week Old Developing Seedling rr1.pk0043.f9 rsr9n Rice Leaf 15 Days After Germination, Harvested 2-72 rsr9n.pk001.d1 Hours Following Infection With Magnaporthe grisea (4360-R-62 and 4360-R-67)* se3 Soybean Embryo, 17 Days After Flowering se3.pk0036.g4 se6 Soybean Embryo, 26 Days After Flowering se6.pk0039.h6 sfl1n Soybean Immature Flower* sfl1n.pk001.l16 srr2c Soybean 8-Day-Old Root srr2c.pk002.o7 ssl Soybean Seedling 5-10 Days After Germination ssl.pk0007.a9 wdk2c Wheat Developing Kernel, 7 Days After Anthesis wdk2c.pk012.o17 wdk2c.pk017.p2l wdk2c.pk008.n3 wdk9n1 Wheat Kernels 3, 7, 14 and 21 Days After Anthesis* wdk9n1.pk001.o20 *These libraries were normalized essentially as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,845, incorporated herein by reference.

cDNA libraries may be prepared by any one of many methods available. For example, the cDNAs may be introduced into plasmid vectors by first preparing the cDNA libraries in Uni-ZAP™ XR vectors according to the manufacturer's protocol (Stratagene Cloning Systems, La Jolla, Calif.). The Uni-ZAP™ XR libraries are converted into plasmid libraries according to the protocol provided by Stratagene. Upon conversion, cDNA inserts will be contained in the plasmid vector pBluescript. In addition, the cDNAs may be introduced directly into precut Bluescript II SK(+) vectors (Stratagene) using T4 DNA ligase (New England Biolabs), followed by transfection into DH10B cells according to the manufacturer's protocol (GIBCO BRL Products). Once the cDNA inserts are in plasmid vectors, plasmid DNAs are prepared from randomly picked bacterial colonies containing recombinant pBluescript plasmids, or the insert cDNA sequences are amplified via polymerase chain reaction using primers specific for vector sequences flanking the inserted cDNA sequences. Amplified insert DNAs or plasmid DNAs are sequenced in dye-primer sequencing reactions to generate partial cDNA sequences (expressed sequence tags or “ESTs”; see Adams et al., (1991) Science 252:1651-1656). The resulting ESTs are analyzed using a Perkin Elmer Model 377 fluorescent sequencer.

Full-insert sequence (FIS) data is generated utilizing a modified transposition protocol. Clones identified for FIS are recovered from archived glycerol stocks as single colonies, and plasmid DNAs are isolated via alkaline lysis. Isolated DNA templates are reacted with vector primed M13 forward and reverse oligonucleotides in a PCR-based sequencing reaction and loaded onto automated sequencers. Confirmation of clone identification is performed by sequence alignment to the original EST sequence from which the FIS request is made.

Confirmed templates are transposed via the Primer Island transposition kit (PE Applied Biosystems, Foster City, Calif.) which is based upon the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Tyl transposable element (Devine and Boeke (1994) Nucleic Acids Res. 22:3765-3772). The in vitro transposition system places unique binding sites randomly throughout a population of large DNA molecules. The transposed DNA is then used to transform DH10B electro-competent cells (Gibco BRL/Life Technologies, Rockville, Md.) via electroporation. The transposable element contains an additional selectable marker (named DHFR; Fling and Richards (1983) Nucleic Acids Res. 11:5147-5158), allowing for dual selection on agar plates of only those subclones containing the integrated transposon. Multiple subclones are randomly selected from each transposition reaction, plasmid DNAs are prepared via alkaline lysis, and templates are sequenced (ABI Prism dye-terminator ReadyReaction mix) outward from the transposition event site, utilizing unique primers specific to the binding sites within the transposon.

Sequence data is collected (ABI Prism Collections) and assembled using Phred/Phrap (P. Green, University of Washington, Seattle). Phred/Phrap is a public domain software program which re-reads the ABI sequence data, re-calls the bases, assigns quality values, and writes the base calls and quality values into editable output files. The Phrap sequence assembly program uses these quality values to increase the accuracy of the assembled sequence contigs. Assemblies are viewed by the Consed sequence editor (D. Gordon, University of Washington, Seattle).

In some of the clones the cDNA fragment corresponds to a portion of the 3′-terminus of the gene and does not cover the entire open reading frame. In order to obtain the upstream information one of two different protocols are used. The first of these methods results in the production of a fragment of DNA containing a portion of the desired gene sequence while the second method results in the production of a fragment containing the entire open reading frame. Both of these methods use two rounds of PCR amplification to obtain fragments from one or more libraries. The libraries some times are chosen based on previous knowledge that the specific gene should be found in a certain tissue and some times are randomly-chosen. Reactions to obtain the same gene may be performed on several libraries in parallel or on a pool of libraries. Library pools are normally prepared using from 3 to 5 different libraries and normalized to a uniform dilution. In the first round of amplification both methods use a vector-specific (forward) primer corresponding to a portion of the vector located at the 5′-terminus of the clone coupled with a gene-specific (reverse) primer. The first method uses a sequence that is complementary to a portion of the already known gene sequence while the second method uses a gene-specific primer complementary to a portion of the 3′-untranslated region (also referred to as UTR). In the second round of amplification a nested set of primers is used for both methods. The resulting DNA fragment is ligated into a pBluescript vector using a commercial kit and following the manufacturer's protocol. This kit is selected from many available from several vendors including Invitrogen (Carlsbad, Calif.), Promega Biotech (Madison, Wis.), and Gibco-BRL (Gaithersburg, Md.). The plasmid DNA is isolated by alkaline lysis method and submitted for sequencing and assembly using Phred/Phrap, as above.

Example 2 Identification of cDNA Clones

cDNA clones encoding floral development proteins were identified by conducting BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool; Altschul et al. (1993) J. Mol. Biol. 215:403-410; see also the explanation of the BLAST alogarithm on the world wide web site for the National Center for Biotechnology Information at the National Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health) searches for similarity to sequences contained in the BLAST “nr” database (comprising all non-redundant GenBank CDS translations, sequences derived from the 3-dimensional structure Brookhaven Protein Data Bank, the last major release of the SWISS-PROT protein sequence database, EMBL, and DDBJ databases). The cDNA sequences obtained in Example 1 were analyzed for similarity to all publicly available DNA sequences contained in the “nr” database using the BLASTN algorithm provided by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). The DNA sequences were translated in all reading frames and compared for similarity to all publicly available protein sequences contained in the “nr” database using the BLASTX algorithm (Gish and States (1993) Nat. Genet. 3:266-272) provided by the NCBI. For convenience, the P-value (probability) of observing a match of a cDNA sequence to a sequence contained in the searched databases merely by chance as calculated by BLAST are reported herein as “pLog” values, which represent the negative of the logarithm of the reported P-value. Accordingly, the greater the pLog value, the greater the likelihood that the cDNA sequence and the BLAST “hit” represent homologous proteins.

ESTs submitted for analysis are compared to the genbank database as described above. ESTs that contain sequences more 5- or 3-prime can be found by using the BLASTn algorithm (Altschul et al (1997) Nucleic Acids Res. 25:3389-3402.) against the DuPont proprietary database comparing nucleotide sequences that share common or overlapping regions of sequence homology. Where common or overlapping sequences exist between two or more nucleic acid fragments, the sequences can be assembled into a single contiguous nucleotide sequence, thus extending the original fragment in either the 5 or 3 prime direction. Once the most 5-prime EST is identified, its complete sequence can be determined by Full Insert Sequencing as described in Example 1. Homologous genes belonging to different species can be found by comparing the amino acid sequence of a known gene (from either a proprietary source or a public database) against an EST database using the tBLASTn algorithm. The tBLASTn algorithm searches an amino acid query against a nucleotide database that is translated in all 6 reading frames. This search allows for differences in nucleotide codon usage between different species, and for codon degeneracy.

Example 3 Characterization of cDNA Clones Encoding Flowering Locus T (FT) Homologs

The BLASTX search using the EST sequences from clones listed in Table 3 revealed similarity of the polypeptides encoded by the cDNAs to FT and its homologs from Citrus unshiu (NCBI GenBank Identifier (GI) No. 4903139), Arabidopsis thaliana (NCBI GI Nos. 5002246 and 2190540), Oryza sativa (NCBI GI Nos. 5360178 and 5360180) and Nicotiana tabacum (NCBI GI No. 5453314). Shown in Table 3 are the BLAST results for individual ESTs (“EST”), the sequences of the entire cDNA inserts comprising the indicated cDNA clones (“FIS”), the sequences of contigs assembled from two or more ESTs (“Contig”), sequences of contigs assembled from an FIS and one or more ESTs (“Contig*”), or sequences encoding an entire protein derived from an FIS, a contig, or an FIS and PCR fragment sequence (“CGS”): TABLE 3 BLAST Results for Sequences Encoding Polypeptides Homologous to Flowering Locus T (FT) Protein BLAST Results Clone Status NCBI GI No. pLog Score eal1c.pk006.e6 EST 4903139 65.70 Contig of CGS 5002246 75.00 fds.pk0003.h2 fds.pk0026.d10 fds1n.pk001.p18 ids.pk0031.a5 (FIS) CGS 5002246 61.70 Contig of CGS 4903139 77.00 cbn10.pk0052.f5 cbn2.pk0035.f12 cco1n.pk0010.h3 p0095.cwsas14f p0119.cmtmg45rb p0128.cpicl42r cc71se-b.pk0003.h10 (FIS) CGS 5002246 59.15 cco1n.pk0037.d10 (FIS) CGS 2190540 68.52 Contig of CGS 5002246 57.30 cen3n.pk0004.e9 cen3n.pk0047.h7 cen3n.pk0093.f1 cen3n.pk0165.f1 p0120.cdeae63r p0014.ctush42r (FIS) CGS 4903139 59.00 p0081.chcad07r (FIS) CGS 4903139 81.00 p0104.cabak14rb (FIS) CGS 5360178 93.70 p0118.chsaq04rb (FIS) CGS 5360180 82.10 rbm1c.pk001.a6 EST 5002246 46.04 Contig of Contig 4903139 43.30 rl0n.pk0022.h10 rl0n.pk0022.h11 rlr48.pk0001.b1 EST 5002246 14.52 rls24.pk0017.c7 (FIS) CGS 5002246 64.70 rr1.pk0043.f9 (FIS) CGS 5360178 82.10 rsr9n.pk001.d1 EST 2190540 35.70 Contig of CGS 5002246 76.00 se3.pk0036.g4 se6.pk0039.h6 (FIS) srr2c.pk002.o7 (FIS) CGS 5360180 77.52 Contig of CGS 5453314 73.70 ssl.pk0007.a9 PCR fragment sequence wdk2c.pk012.o17 (FIS) CGS 5002246 62.30 wdk9n1.pk001.o20 (FIS) CGS 4903139 75.70 cta1n.pk0058.d11b FIS 15218709 53.40 rbm1c.pk001.a6:fis CGS 5002246 56.10 rl0n.pk0022.h10:fis FIS 14517620 36.70 rsr9n.pk001.d1:fis CGS 15218709 70.39

The PCR fragment that was used to extend the nucleotide sequence obtained from clone ssl.pk0007.a9 was obtained via methods (e.g., RACE techniques) well-known to those skilled in the art.

The amino acid sequence of the polypeptide encoded by the insert in clone wdk2c.pk012.o17 is identical to the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide encoded by the nucleotide sequence of a contig assembled from ESTs derived from clones wdk2c.pk008.n3, wdk2c.pk012.o17, and wdk2c.pk017.p21.

FIG. 1 presents an alignment of the amino acid sequences set forth in SEQ ID NOs:4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 30, 32, 36, 38, 40, 42, and 44 and the Oryza sativa sequence (NCBI GI No. 5360178; SEQ ID NO:51).

The data in Table 4 represents a calculation of the percent identity of the amino acid sequences set forth in SEQ ID NOs:4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 30, 32, 36, 38, 40, 42, and 44 and the Oryza sativa sequence (NCBI GI No. 5360178; SEQ ID NO:51). TABLE 4 Percent Identity of Amino Acid Sequences Deduced From the Nucleotide Sequences of cDNA Clones Encoding Polypeptides Homologous to FT Protein Percent Identity to SEQ ID NO. NCBI GI No. 2 69.3 [gi 4903139] 4 72.3 [gi 5002246] 6 61.3 [gi 5002246] 8 74.6 [gi 4903139] 10 60.5 [gi 5002246] 12 67.2 [gi 2190540] 14 60.1 [gi 5002246] 16 59.9 [gi 4903139] 18 78.0 [gi 4903139] 20 94.8 [gi 5360178] 22 83.8 [gi 5360180] 24 56.2 [gi 5002246] 26 64.8 [gi 4903139] 28 52.9 [gi 5002246] 30 65.9 [gi 5002246] 32 83.2 [gi 5360178] 36 74.4 [gi 5002246] 38 76.3 [gi 5360180] 40 74.6 [gi 5453314] 42 64.2 [gi 5002246] 44 72.9 [gi 4903139] 54 60.8 [gi 15218709] 56 57.2 [gi 5002246] 58 66.3 [gi 14517620] 60 69.0 [gi 15218709]

Sequence alignments and percent identity calculations were performed using the Megalign program of the LASERGENE bioinformatics computing suite (DNASTAR Inc., Madison, Wis.). Multiple alignment of the sequences was performed using the Clustal method of alignment (Higgins and Sharp (1989) CABIOS. 5:151-153) with the default parameters (GAP PENALTY=10, GAP LENGTH PENALTY=10). Default parameters for pairwise alignments using the Clustal KTUPLE 1, GAP PENALTY=3, WINDOW=5 and DIAGONALS SAVED=5. It will be recognized by one skilled in the art that conserved sequence elements within the encoded polypeptide are useful in identifying homologous enzymes. Two such elements, although not necessarily the only elements, are the sequences Asp-Pro-Asp-Xaa-Pro-Xaa-Pro-Ser-Xaa-Pro found, for example, at positions 70-79 of SEQ ID NO:4, and Gly-Ile-His-Arg found, for example at positions 115-118 of SEQ ID NO:4. Sequence alignments and BLAST scores and probabilities indicate that the nucleic acid fragments comprising the instant cDNA clones encode a substantial portion of a polypeptide encoded by a member of TFL1/FT gene family. These sequences represent the first Peruvian lily, balsam pear, garden balsam, corn, soybean, wheat sequences and new rice sequences encoding flowering locus T (FT or TFL) homologs known to Applicant.

Example 4 Characterization of cDNA Clones Encoding Ap3 Homologs

The BLASTX search using the EST sequences from clones listed in Table 5 revealed similarity of the polypeptides encoded by the cDNAs to MADS box proteins (Ap3 homologs) from Oryza sativa (NCBI GI Nos. 5295980 and 7446534) and Medicago sativa (NCBI GI No. 2827300). Shown in Table 5 are the BLAST results for individual ESTs (“EST”), the sequences of the entire cDNA inserts comprising the indicated cDNA clones (“FIS”), the sequences of contigs assembled from two or more ESTs (“Contig”), sequences of contigs assembled from an FIS and one or more ESTs (“Contig*”), or sequences encoding an entire protein derived from an FIS, a contig, or an FIS and PCR (“CGS”): TABLE 5 BLAST Results for Sequences Encoding Polypeptides Homologous to Ap3 Protein BLAST Results Clone Status NCBI GI No. pLog Score cta1n.pk0050.f8 (FIS) CGS 5295980 113.00 ctn1c.pk002.j23 (FIS) CGS 7446534 109.00 sfl1n.pk001.l16 (FIS) CGS 2827300 114.00

FIG. 2 presents an alignment of the amino acid sequences set forth in SEQ ID NOs:46, 48, and 50 and the Oryza sativa sequence (NCBI GI No. 5295980; SEQ ID NO:52). The data in Table 6 represents a calculation of the percent identity of the amino acid sequences set forth in SEQ ID NOs:46, 48, and 50 and the Oryza sativa sequence (NCBI GI No. 5295980; SEQ ID NO:52). TABLE 6 Percent Identity of Amino Acid Sequences Deduced From the Nucleotide Sequences of cDNA Clones Encoding Polypeptides Homologous to Ap3 Protein Percent Identity to SEQ ID NO. [NCBI GI No.] 46 86.6 [gi 5295980] 48 91.4 [gi 7446534] 50 85.9 [gi 2827300]

Sequence alignments and percent identity calculations were performed using the Megalign program of the LASERGENE bioinformatics computing suite (DNASTAR Inc., Madison, Wis.). Multiple alignment of the sequences was performed using the Clustal method of alignment (Higgins and Sharp (1989) CABIOS. 5:151-153) with the default parameters (GAP PENALTY=10, GAP LENGTH PENALTY=10). Default parameters for pairwise alignments using the Clustal method were KTUPLE 1, GAP PENALTY=3, WINDOW=5 and DIAGONALS SAVED=5. It will be recognized by one skilled in the art that conserved sequence elements within the encoded polypeptide are useful in identifying homologous enzymes. One such element, although not necessarily the only element, is the sequence Arg-Gly-Lys-Ile-Xaa-Ile-Lys-Arg-Ile-Glu-Asn-Xaa-Thr-Asn-Arg-Gln-Val-Thr-Xaa-Ser-Lys-Arg-Arg-Xaa-Gly-Xaa-Xaa-Lys-Lys-Ala found, for example, at positions 3-32 of SEQ ID NO:46. Sequence alignments and BLAST scores and probabilities indicate that the nucleic acid fragments comprising the instant cDNA clones encode a substantial portion of an Ap3 homolog. These sequences represent the first soybean sequence and new corn sequences encoding Ap3 homologs known to Applicant.

Example 5 Expression of Chimeric Genes in Monocot Cells

A chimeric gene comprising a cDNA encoding the instant polypeptides in sense orientation with respect to the maize 27 kD zein promoter that is located 5′ to the cDNA fragment, and the 10 kD zein 3′ end that is located 3′ to the cDNA fragment, can be constructed. The cDNA fragment of this gene may be generated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of the cDNA clone using appropriate oligonucleotide primers. Cloning sites (NcoI or SmaI) can be incorporated into the oligonucleotides to provide proper orientation of the DNA fragment when inserted into the digested vector pML 103 as described below. Amplification is then performed in a standard PCR. The amplified DNA is then digested with restriction enzymes NcoI and SmaI and fractionated on an agarose gel. The appropriate band can be isolated from the gel and combined with a 4.9 kb NcoI-SmaI fragment of the plasmid pML103. Plasmid pML103 has been deposited under the terms of the Budapest Treaty at ATCC (American Type Culture Collection, 10801 University Blvd., Manassas, Va. 20110-2209), and bears accession number ATCC 97366. The DNA segment from pML103 contains a 1.05 kb SalI-NcoI promoter fragment of the maize 27 kD zein gene and a 0.96 kb SmaI-SalI fragment from the 3′ end of the maize 10 kD zein gene in the vector pGem9Zf(+) (Promega). Vector and insert DNA can be ligated at 15° C. overnight, essentially as described (Maniatis). The ligated DNA may then be used to transform E. coli XL1-Blue (Epicurian Coli XL-1 Blue™; Stratagene). Bacterial transformants can be screened by restriction enzyme digestion of plasmid DNA and limited nucleotide sequence analysis using the dideoxy chain termination method (Sequenase™ DNA Sequencing Kit; U.S. Biochemical). The resulting plasmid construct would comprise a chimeric gene encoding, in the 5′ to 3′ direction, the maize 27 kD zein promoter, a cDNA fragment encoding the instant polypeptides, and the 10 kD zein 3′ region.

The chimeric gene described above can then be introduced into corn cells by the following procedure. Immature corn embryos can be dissected from developing caryopses derived from crosses of the inbred corn lines H99 and LH132. The embryos are isolated 10 to 11 days after pollination when they are 1.0 to 1.5 mm long. The embryos are then placed with the axis-side facing down and in contact with agarose-solidified N6 medium (Chu et al. (1975) Sci. Sin. Peking 18:659-668). The embryos are kept in the dark at 27° C. Friable embryogenic callus consisting of undifferentiated masses of cells with somatic proembryoids and embryoids borne on suspensor structures proliferates from the scutellum of these immature embryos. The embryogenic callus isolated from the primary explant can be cultured on N6 medium and sub-cultured on this medium every 2 to 3 weeks.

The plasmid, p35S/Ac (obtained from Dr. Peter Eckes, Hoechst Ag, Frankfurt, Germany) may be used in transformation experiments in order to provide for a selectable marker. This plasmid contains the Pat gene (see European Patent Publication 0 242 236) which encodes phosphinothricin acetyl transferase (PAT). The enzyme PAT confers resistance to herbicidal glutamine synthetase inhibitors such as phosphinothricin. The pat gene in p35S/Ac is under the control of the 35S promoter from Cauliflower Mosaic Virus (Odell et al. (1985) Nature 313:810-812) and the 3′ region of the nopaline synthase gene from the T-DNA of the Ti plasmid of Agrobacterium tumefaciens.

The particle bombardment method (Klein et al. (1987) Nature 327:70-73) may be used to transfer genes to the callus culture cells. According to this method, gold particles (1 μm in diameter) are coated with DNA using the following technique. Ten μg of plasmid DNAs are added to 50 μL of a suspension of gold particles (60 mg per mL). Calcium chloride (50 μL of a 2.5 M solution) and spermidine free base (20 μL of a 1.0 M solution) are added to the particles. The suspension is vortexed during the addition of these solutions. After 10 minutes, the tubes are briefly centrifuged (5 sec at 15,000 rpm) and the supernatant removed. The particles are resuspended in 200 μL of absolute ethanol, centrifuged again and the supernatant removed. The ethanol rinse is performed again and the particles resuspended in a final volume of 30 μL of ethanol. An aliquot (5 μL) of the DNA-coated gold particles can be placed in the center of a Kapton™ flying disc (Bio-Rad Labs). The particles are then accelerated into the corn tissue with a Biolistic™ PDS-1000/He (Bio-Rad Instruments, Hercules Calif.), using a helium pressure of 1000 psi, a gap distance of 0.5 cm and a flying distance of 1.0 cm.

For bombardment, the embryogenic tissue is placed on filter paper over agarose-solidified N6 medium. The tissue is arranged as a thin lawn and covered a circular area of about 5 cm in diameter. The petri dish containing the tissue can be placed in the chamber of the PDS-1000/He approximately 8 cm from the stopping screen. The air in the chamber is then evacuated to a vacuum of 28 inches of Hg. The macrocarrier is accelerated with a helium shock wave using a rupture membrane that bursts when the He pressure in the shock tube reaches 1000 psi.

Seven days after bombardment the tissue can be transferred to N6 medium that contains bialophos (5 mg per liter) and lacks casein or proline. The tissue continues to grow slowly on this medium. After an additional 2 weeks the tissue can be transferred to fresh N6 medium containing bialophos. After 6 weeks, areas of about 1 cm in diameter of actively growing callus can be identified on some of the plates containing the bialophos-supplemented medium. These calli may continue to grow when sub-cultured on the selective medium.

Plants can be regenerated from the transgenic callus by first transferring clusters of tissue to N6 medium supplemented with 0.2 mg per liter of 2,4-D. After two weeks the tissue can be transferred to regeneration medium (Fromm et al. (1990) Bio/Technology 8:833-839).

Example 6 Expression of Chimeric Genes in Dicot Cells

A seed-specific expression cassette composed of the promoter and transcription terminator from the gene encoding the p subunit of the seed storage protein phaseolin from the bean Phaseolus vulgaris (Doyle et al. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261:9228-9238) can be used for expression of the instant polypeptides in transformed soybean. The phaseolin cassette includes about 500 nucleotides upstream (5′) from the translation initiation codon and about 1650 nucleotides downstream (3′) from the translation stop codon of phaseolin. Between the 5′ and 3′ regions are the unique restriction endonuclease sites NcoI (which includes the ATG translation initiation codon), SmaI, KpnI and XbaI. The entire cassette is flanked by HindIII sites.

The cDNA fragment of this gene may be generated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of the cDNA clone using appropriate oligonucleotide primers. Cloning sites can be incorporated into the oligonucleotides to provide proper orientation of the DNA fragment when inserted into the expression vector. Amplification is then performed as described above, and the isolated fragment is inserted into a pUC18 vector carrying the seed expression cassette.

Soybean embryos may then be transformed with the expression vector comprising sequences encoding the instant polypeptides. To induce somatic embryos, cotyledons, 3-5 mm in length dissected from surface sterilized, immature seeds of the soybean cultivar A2872, can be cultured in the light or dark at 26° C. on an appropriate agar medium for 6-10 weeks. Somatic embryos which produce secondary embryos are then excised and placed into a suitable liquid medium. After repeated selection for clusters of somatic embryos which multiplied as early, globular staged embryos, the suspensions are maintained as described below.

Soybean embryogenic suspension cultures can be maintained in 35 mL liquid media on a rotary shaker, 150 rpm, at 26° C. with florescent lights on a 16:8 hour day/night schedule. Cultures are subcultured every two weeks by inoculating approximately 35 mg of tissue into 35 mL of liquid medium.

Soybean embryogenic suspension cultures may then be transformed by the method of particle gun bombardment (Klein et al. (1987) Nature (London) 327:70-73, U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,050). A DuPont Biolistic™ PDS1000/HE instrument (helium retrofit) can be used for these transformations.

A selectable marker gene which can be used to facilitate soybean transformation is a chimeric gene composed of the ³⁵S promoter from Cauliflower Mosaic Virus (Odell et al. (1985) Nature 313:810-812), the hygromycin phosphotransferase gene from plasmid pJR225 (from E. coli; Gritz et al. (1983) Gene 25:179-188) and the 3′ region of the nopaline synthase gene from the T-DNA of the Ti plasmid of Agrobacterium tumefaciens. The seed expression cassette comprising the phaseolin 5′ region, the fragment encoding the instant polypeptides and the phaseolin 3′ region can be isolated as a restriction fragment. This fragment can then be inserted into a unique restriction site of the vector carrying the marker gene.

To 50 μL of a 60 mg/mL 1 μm gold particle suspension is added (in order): 5 μL DNA (1 μg/μL), 20 μL spermidine (0.1 M), and 50 μL CaCl₂ (2.5 M). The particle preparation is then agitated for three minutes, spun in a microfuge for 10 seconds and the supernatant removed. The DNA-coated particles are then washed once in 400 μL 70% ethanol and resuspended in 40 μL of anhydrous ethanol. The DNA/particle suspension can be sonicated three times for one second each. Five μL of the DNA-coated gold particles are then loaded on each macro carrier disk.

Approximately 300-400 mg of a two-week-old suspension culture is placed in an empty 60×1 5 mm petri dish and the residual liquid removed from the tissue with a pipette. For each transformation experiment, approximately 5-10 plates of tissue are normally bombarded. Membrane rupture pressure is set at 1100 psi and the chamber is evacuated to a vacuum of 28 inches mercury. The tissue is placed approximately 3.5 inches away from the retaining screen and bombarded three times. Following bombardment, the tissue can be divided in half and placed back into liquid and cultured as described above.

Five to seven days post bombardment, the liquid media may be exchanged with fresh media, and eleven to twelve days post bombardment with fresh media containing 50 mg/mL hygromycin. This selective media can be refreshed weekly. Seven to eight weeks post bombardment, green, transformed tissue may be observed growing from untransformed, necrotic embryogenic clusters. Isolated green tissue is removed and inoculated into individual flasks to generate new, clonally propagated, transformed embryogenic suspension cultures. Each new line may be treated as an independent transformation event. These suspensions can then be subcultured and maintained as clusters of immature embryos or regenerated into whole plants by maturation and germination of individual somatic embryos.

Example 7 Expression of Chimeric Genes in Microbial Cells

The cDNAs encoding the instant polypeptides can be inserted into the T7 E. coli expression vector pBT430. This vector is a derivative of pET-3a (Rosenberg et al. (1987) Gene 56:125-135) which employs the bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase/T7 promoter system. Plasmid pBT430 was constructed by first destroying the EcoRI and HindIII sites in pET-3a at their original positions. An oligonucleotide adaptor containing EcoRI and Hind III sites was inserted at the BamHI site of pET-3a. This created pET-3aM with additional unique cloning sites for insertion of genes into the expression vector. Then, the NdeI site at the position of translation initiation was converted to an NcoI site using oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis. The DNA sequence of pET-3aM in this region, 5′-CATATGG, was converted to 5′-CCCATGG in pBT430.

Plasmid DNA containing a cDNA may be appropriately digested to release a nucleic acid fragment encoding the protein. This fragment may then be purified on a 1% low melting agarose gel. Buffer and agarose contain 10 μg/ml ethidium bromide for visualization of the DNA fragment. The fragment can then be purified from the agarose gel by digestion with GELase™ (Epicentre Technologies, Madison, Wis.) according to the manufacturer's instructions, ethanol precipitated, dried and resuspended in 20 μL of water. Appropriate oligonucleotide adapters may be ligated to the fragment using T4 DNA ligase (New England Biolabs (NEB), Beverly, Mass.). The fragment containing the ligated adapters can be purified from the excess adapters using low melting agarose as described above. The vector pBT430 is digested, dephosphorylated with alkaline phosphatase (NEB) and deproteinized with phenol/chloroform as described above. The prepared vector pBT430 and fragment can then be ligated at 16° C. for 15 hours followed by transformation into DH5 electrocompetent cells (GIBCO BRL). Transformants can be selected on agar plates containing LB media and 100 μg/mL ampicillin. Transformants containing the gene encoding the instant polypeptides are then screened for the correct orientation with respect to the T7 promoter by restriction enzyme analysis.

For high level expression, a plasmid clone with the cDNA insert in the correct orientation relative to the T7 promoter can be transformed into E. coli strain BL21 (DE3) (Studier et al. (1986) J. Mol. Biol. 189:113-130). Cultures are grown in LB medium containing ampicillin (100 mg/L) at 25° C. At an optical density at 600 nm of approximately 1, IPTG (isopropylthio-β-galactoside, the inducer) can be added to a final concentration of 0.4 mM and incubation can be continued for 3 h at 25°. Cells are then harvested by centrifugation and re-suspended in 50 μL of 50 mM Tris-HCl at pH 8.0 containing 0.1 mM DTT and 0.2 mM phenyl methylsulfonyl fluoride. A small amount of 1 mm glass beads can be added and the mixture sonicated 3 times for about 5 seconds each time with a microprobe sonicator. The mixture is centrifuged and the protein concentration of the supernatant determined. One μg of protein from the soluble fraction of the culture can be separated by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Gels can be observed for protein bands migrating at the expected molecular weight.

Example 8 Phylogenetic Analysis of Corn Translational Homologs of the Arabidopsis Flowering proteins FT (Flowering Locus T) and TFL (Terminal Flower)

The relationship of maize and Arabidopsis FT-TFL proteins was revealed by phylogenetic analysis. Seven maize FT-TFL putative proteins were included in the phylogenetic analysis as well: Arabidopsis FT (GenBank accession number AB027504) and TFL (GenBank accession number U77674), rice Hd3a, heading QTL3 (GenBank accession number AB052942), rice RCN1 (GenBank accession number AF159882), snapdragon CEN, centroradialis (GenBank accession number S81193), tomato SP, self-pruning (GenBank accession number U84140). The mice PEBP protein (GenBank accession number AF300422) was used as an outgroup to root the tree. The phylogenetic tree was constructed by the maximum parsimony methods (FIG. 3). The phylogram clearly delimits two major clades that corresponded to the FT and TFL proteins. Maize proteins ZmFT4 and ZmFT5 form an outgroup with the mice protein mPEBP, which suggests that their functions are not related to the flowering time.

The FT lade consists of five maize proteins with different degrees of amino acid identity. ZmFT1 is closely related to the Arabidopsis FT sharing 71% identity and 83% similarity. ZmFT3 is closely related to the rice Hd3a QTL for photoperiod sensitivity (GenBank accession number AB052942) sharing 88% identity and 94% similarity. ZmFT3 shows less than 60% identity to both proteins from rice and Arabidopsis.

The TFL lade consists of six members including the snapdragon CEN and tomato SP proteins. This lade shows higher conservation of amino acid sequences than the FT lade. The maize proteins ZmFTL1 and ZmFTL2 are tightly associated with the rice RCN1 (Nakagawa et al., 2002). ZmTFL1 is highly homologous to the rice RCN1 sharing 94% identity and 98% similarity. ZmFTL2 is also close to RCN1 sharing 85% identity and 91% similarity. The high level of the amino acid conservation between species indicates that TFL protein structures are under a strong evolution pressure for function. Thus ZmTFL proteins may play roles as repressors of flowering similar to the Arabidopsis TFL and rice RCN1.

Example 9 Genomic Sequences of Maize FT-TFL Homologs

To get genomic sequences of ZmFT and ZmTFL genes, BAC (bacterial artificial chromosome) libraries were screened with inserts of EST's SEQ ID NO: 7, 9, 15, 17, 19, 21 (Table 1). HindIII fragments of BAC DNAs were sub-cloned into a plasmid BluescriptIISK(+) and sequenced at the DuPont sequencing facilities. The genomic sequences of ZmFT1, ZmFT2, ZmFT3, ZmTFL1 and ZmTFL2 are listed in the sequence listing for this specification (Sequence ID NOS: 63, 64, 65, 66 and 67, respectively).

The genomic structures of the ZmFT and ZmTFL sequences are shown in FIG. 4, and are described in detail as follows:

The genomic region of ZmFT1 (SEQ ID NO: 63) is composed of a promoter (1-2211 nt), 5′UTR (2212-2385 nt), exon 1 (2386-3580 nt), exon 2 (2741-2802 nt), exon 3 (9718-9760 nt), exon 4 (9845-10067), 3′UTR (10067-10316).

The genomic region of ZmFT2 (SEQ ID NO: 64) is composed of 5′UTR (1-93), exon1 (94-293), exon2 (468-525), exon3 (765-806), exon 4 (1411-1651), 3′UTR (1652-1840).

The genomic region of ZmFT3 (SEQ ID NO: 65) is composed of a promoter (286-4375 nt), 5′UTR (4376-4542 nt), exon 1 (4543-4743 nt), exon 2 (4894-4953 nt), exon 3 (5688-5728 nt), exon 4 (6166-6396 nt), 3′UTR (6397-6860).

The genomic region of ZmTFL1 (SEQ ID NO: 66) is composed of two copies of ZmTFL1 gene arranged in a perfect tandem. The first copy has a partial promoter (1-562 nt), 5′UTR (486-563 nt), exon 1 (564-763 nt), exon 2 (846-9907 nt), exon 3 (1056-1096 nt), exon 4 (1176-1364 nt), 3′UTR (1395-1611 nt), 3′ downstream segment (1612-2435 nt). The second copy begins from 2436 nt and shows the identical structure as the first one. The genomic organization of ZmTFL1 gene exhibits an unusual configuration of a tandem array of two gene copies. The unit length in tandem is 2292 nt, which include a 5′upstream sequence (364 nt), exon/intron genic segment (1116 nt) and 3′downstream sequence (812 nt). A promoter for the second ZmTFL1 copy may be defined between nucleotides 1611 and 2435 (824 nt total length). Almost identical nucleotide sequences of both units suggest a very recent duplication of ZmTFL1 gene in Mo17 genome.

The genomic region of ZmTFL2 (SEQ ID NO: 67) is composed of a promoter (1-1450 nt), 5′UTR (1451-1518 nt), exon 1 (1519-1780 nt), exon 2 (2097-2137 nt), exon 3 (2309-2595 nt), and 3′UTR (2596-2881 nt).

The overall genomic structures of ZmFT1, Zm FT2, ZmFT3 and ZmTFL1 are very similar, each comprising 4 exons and 3 introns. They are similar to the Arabidopsis FT (GenBank accession number NC003070) and TFL genes (GenBank accession number NC003076) and the rice gene Hd3a (GenBank accession number AB052942). The genomic structure of ZmTFL2 is different as it contains only 2 introns. The absence of intron 1 results in a fusion of exon1 and exon 2. The coding segments of exons are nearly identical ranging in sizes 195-204 nt (exon1), 61nt (exon2), 41nt (exon3) and 213-238 nt (exon 4). This is consistent with the very close sizes of encoded proteins of 173-177 amino acids. Conversely, intron lengths vary significantly between the ZmFT and ZmTFL genes. Intron1 ranges from 0 to 186 nt, intron 2 ranges from 147 to 6916 nt, and intron 3 ranges from 39 to 604 nt. The ZmFT1 gene possesses the most unusual intron, with its second intron being 6917 nt, which is 7 times longer than a coding sequence. Such a long intron size is very uncommon in plants and raises a possibility of the particular role of this intron in controlling the ZmFT1 gene expression.

Example 10 Map Position of ZmFT and ZmFTL Genes and Correlation with QTL's Loci for Flowering Time

All ZmFT and ZmFTL genes have been mapped to chromosomes using the maize-oat addition lines (Kynast et al., 2001). Pairs of gene-specific primers (table 2) were designed to amplify each gene from the 10 samples of the oat DNA each of which carrying a single maize chromosome. Genes were mapped to following chromosomes: ZmFT1—chromosome 8, ZmFT2—chromosome 3, ZmFT3—chromosome 6, ZmTFL1—chromosome 3, ZmTFL2—chromosome 6. The ZmFT1 gene is mapped to chromosome 8 where two major QTLs for early flowering, vgt1 and vgt2 are located (Vladutu et al., 1999). To place ZmFT1 more precisely on chromosome 8, the mapping population SX19 SYN4 derived from B37 and Mo17 was used. PCR primers SEQ ID NO: 6 and SEQ ID NO: 7 (table 2) were designed. These primers amplify an insertion/deletion polymorphism between B73 and Mol 7 in the 5′ untranslated region of ZmFT1. The 270 lines from the SX19 SYN4 population were genotyped for the ZmFT1 gene. Co-segregation analysis was performed using marker data and genetic maps assembled from both public and Pioneer sources. Linkage between ZmFT1 and each marker was tested by applying a 2×2 X² test for independent segregation (one degree of freedom); the threshold for declaring linkage was X²>18. The genome-wide cumulative type I error probability was 0.05 assuming 1500 marker tests.

Significant linkage was detected between ZmFT1 and a group of markers located on chromosome 8; no linkage was detected elsewhere. The nearest marker to ZmFT1 was UMC32b (14 recombinant lines out of 239 lines genotyped). UMC32b is located at 199 cM on the public 2002 IBM map (568 cM total genetic distance for chromosome 8). ZmFT1 was also tightly linked to UMC120a (16/145 recombinants). UMC120a is located at 55 cM on the public 1998 UMC map (183 cM total After converting the observed two-point recombination fractions to single meioisis genetic distances, ZmFT1 lies from 1.1 cM UMC32b (direction not determined) and 2.2 cM below UMC120a.

Vgt1 and Vgt2 are linked QTLs for flowering time and leaf number defined by Vladutu, et al. (1999) on chromosome 8 between markers UMC236 and UMC89a. UMC236 is located at 54cM of UMC 1998 map. UMC89a is located at 327cM of 2002 IBM map. This places ZmFT1 between UMC236 and UMC89a. Therefore ZmFT1 is a candidate gene for either or both QTLs.

Example 11

Temporal and Spatial Expression of ZmFT-TFL Genes During Plant Development

ZmFT genes comprise a family of related genes with a significant homology to each other. To validate their roles in the transition from the vegetative growth to reproductive, their expressions have been assayed throughout corn plant development. The transition to flowering is a complex development event. Internal and external signals entail irreversible changes in a seedling growing point, the shoot apical meristem. During switching to flowering the shoot apical meristem (SAM) stops producing leaves and commits to form influences. In maize, the floral signals are generated in immature leaves (Colasanti et al., 1998). Thus two tissues play central roles in the transition to flowering, immature leaves and the shoot apical meristem. If candidate genes are expressed in those tissues, they are very likely to play a role in timing of flowering. The SAM shows morphological changes during the transition to flowering such as elongation and branch primordial. This moment was recorded as the transition point. Seedlings (B73 inbred line) have been grown in a green house under standard conditions. Every 3 days seedlings were examined for morphological changes in the SAM and 3-5 SAMs and several immature leaves were sampled. Samples at 8 time points were collected. Total RNAs were isolated from sampled tissues and RT-PCR has been performed for each of ZmFT-TFL genes. Pairs of gene-specific primers were designed according EST sequences to amplify specifically one cDNA at time (table 2). Mature leaves, the embryo from 15 days after pollination, kernels and seedling roots were tested for expression of ZmFT genes as well. Out of 6 genes examined, ZmFT1, ZmTFL1 and ZmTFL2 showed expression in the shoot apical meristem in a very specific pattern for each gene. ZmFT2, ZmFT3 and ZmFT4 are expressed neither in the SAM nor in immature leaves, which excluded them from the floral transition genes. ZmFT2 is expressed in mature leaves that still may play some role in flowering. ZmFT3 is expressed only in pedicel, and ZmFT 4 is expressed in the embryo. They may function in other pathways not related to the floral transition.

As shown by RT-PCR, ZmFT1 gene is not expressed in the SAM from seedlings during vegetative growth up 26 days after planting. The transition from vegetative to reproductive growth occurs in the SAM around 22-26 days after planting. An RT-PCR band from ZmFT1 mRNA appears in the SAM at 33 days after planting when the floral transition occurred. Thus ZmFT1 gene is expressed in the young inflorescence. ZmTFL1 and ZmTFL2 are expressed in the SAM during vegetative growth at 3-22 days after planting. They cease their expression before the floral transition around 26 days.

ZmFT1 demonstrates a pattern of expression consistent with function as an activator of the flowering. Its transcription is not detected in the SAM during a vegetative growth, but it is activated sharply in the SAM very early after the transition. Conversely, ZmTFL1 and ZmTFL2 are active in the SAM during the vegetative growth and their expressions decline just before the meristem transition to the reproductive growth. This pattern of expression is consistent with their functions as flowering repressors.

Example 12 Expression of ZmTF1 Gene in the Shoot Apical Meristem of the Flowering Mutant id1 (Indeterminate 1)

The temporal and spatial patterns of ZmFT1 expression are consistent with its function as a floral activator in corn. Id1 (indeterminate) gene is the only maize cloned gene with a clear role in a floral transition (Colasanti et al., 1998). The Id1 gene encodes transcription factors and regulates the production of a transmissible signal in the immature leaves that induces the transition of the SAM to reproductive development. To test the possibility whether the ZmFT1 expression is related to the Id1 function, the SAM were sampled from wild type and id1 homozygous siblings after the floral transition. Wild type plants were sampled at 27, 33, 40 and 48 days after planting. Id mutants were sampled also at 66 and 70 days because of delayed flowering phenotypes. RT-PCR analysis has demonstrated that ZmFT1 is expressed in the inflorescence up to 48 days, but it did not expression in the inflorescence of the id1 seedling, even at the later stage of 70 days. Thus these data strongly suggest ZmFT1 is in the same pathway with the Id1 transcription factor. Activation of ZmFT1 transcription requires a floral signal produced in immature leaves under control of the Id1gene. The absence of this signal in the id1 homozygous mutant prevents ZmFT1 expression. Thus ZmFT1 is operating down stream from the Id1 gene in the same pathway. The expression patterns of ZmTFL1 and ZmTFL2 are not significantly affected in the id1 mutant seedlings. Those genes may be placed in independent pathways.

Example 13 Inactivation of ZmFT1 and ZmTFL2 Genes by the Mutator Transposon Insertions.

Gene inactivation can be used to confirm the function of ZmFT-TFL genes in flowering. Pioneer proprietary system TUSC (Trait Utility System for Corn) was used to screen ZmFT1, ZmTFL1, and ZmTFL2 genes disrupted by the Mutator transposable element insertion. F₂ families segregating for the Mutator insertions were screened by PCR with the Mu specific primer (SEQ ID NO: 24) and gene specific primers SEQ ID NO: 21, 22, 23 (table 2). Positive signals were found for the Mutator insertions in ZmFT1 and ZmTFL2, not in ZmTFL1. The Mu insertion sites were sequenced from PCR products. TUSC plants were grown and crossed to different inbred lines to segregate away non-related mutations created by Mu-activity. Flowering phenotypic analysis known to those of skill in the art will demonstrate which genes exhibit and/or modify flowering function.

All publications and patent applications mentioned in the specification are indicative of the level of those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains. All publications and patent applications are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.

This invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which this invention pertains having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. 

1. An isolated polynucleotide comprising: (a) a first nucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide having FT ot TFL homolog activity, wherein the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 26, 28, 30, 34, 36, 40, 42, 44, 54, 56, 58, or 60, have at least 80% sequence identity based on the Clustal alignment method, or (b) a second nucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide having FT or TFL homolog activity, wherein the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, 22, 24, 32, or 38, have at least 85% sequence identity based on the Clustal alignment method, or (c) a third nucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide having Ap3 homolog activity, wherein the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:50, has at least 90% sequence identity based on the Clustal alignment method, or (d) a fourth nucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide having FT or TFL homolog activity, wherein the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:20, has at least 95% sequence identity based on the Clustal alignment method, or (e) a fifth nucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide having Ap3 homolog activity, wherein the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:46, or 48, have at least 95% sequence identity based on the Clustal alignment method, or (f) the complement of the first, second, third, fourth, or fifth, nucleotide sequence, wherein the complement and the nucleotide sequence contain the same number of nucleotides and are 100% complementary.
 2. The polynucleotide of claim 1, wherein the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 26, 28, 30, 34, 36, 40, 42, 44, 54, 56, 58, or 60, have at least 85% identity based on the Clustal alignment method.
 3. The polynucleotide of claim 1, wherein the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 54, 56, 58, or 60, have at least 90% identity based on the Clustal alignment method.
 4. The polynucleotide of claim 1, wherein the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 50, 54, 56, 58, or 60 have at least 95% identity based on the Clustal alignment method.
 5. The polynucleotide of claim 1, wherein the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 54, 56, 58, or
 60. 6. The polynucleotide of claim 1 wherein the nucleotide sequence comprises the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 37, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 49, 53, 55, 57, 59, 63, 64, 65, 66 or
 67. 7. A vector comprising the polynucleotide of claim
 1. 8. A recombinant DNA construct comprising the polynucleotide of claim 1 operably linked to a regulatory sequence.
 9. A method for transforming a cell, comprising transforming a cell with the polynucleotide of claim
 1. 10. A cell comprising the recombinant DNA construct of claim
 8. 11. A method for producing a plant comprising transforming a plant cell with the polynucleotide of claim 1 and regenerating a plant from the transformed plant cell.
 12. A plant comprising the recombinant DNA construct of claim
 8. 13. A seed comprising the recombinant DNA construct of claim
 8. 14. An isolated polynucleotide comprising a first nucleotide sequence, wherein the first nucleotide sequence contains at least 30 nucleotides, and wherein the first nucleotide sequence is comprised by another polynucleotide, wherein the other polynucleotide includes: (a) a second nucleotide sequence, wherein the second nucleotide sequence encodes a polypeptide having FT homolog activity, wherein the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 26, 28, 30, 34, 36, 40, 42, 44, 54, 56, 58, or 60, having at least 80% sequence identity based on the Clustal alignment method, or (b) a third nucleotide sequence, wherein the third nucleotide sequence encodes a polypeptide having FT homolog activity, wherein the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, 22, 24, 32, or 38, having at least 85% sequence identity based on the Clustal alignment method, or (c) a fourth nucleotide sequence, wherein the fourth nucleotide sequence encodes a polypeptide having Ap3 homolog activity, wherein the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:50 has at least 90% sequence identity based on the Clustal alignment method, or (d) a fifth nucleotide sequence, wherein the fifth nucleotide sequence encodes a polypeptide having FT homolog activity, wherein the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:20 has at least 95% sequence identity based on the Clustal alignment method, or (e) a sixth nucleotide sequence, wherein the sixth nucleotide sequence encodes a polypeptide having Ap3 homolog activity, wherein the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:46, or 48, has at least 95% sequence identity based on the Clustal alignment method, or (f) the complement of the second, third, fourth, fifth, or sixth nucleotide sequence, wherein the complement and the second, third, fourth, fifth, or sixth nucleotide sequence contain the came number of nucleotides and are 100% complementary.
 15. An isolated polypeptide having FT or Ap3 homolog activity, wherein the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 26, 28, 30, 34, 36, 40, 42, 44, 54, 56, 58, or 60, have at least 80% identity based on the Clustal alignment method.
 16. The polypeptide of claim 15, wherein the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 54, 56, 58, or 60, have at least 85% identity based on the Clustal alignment method.
 17. The polypeptide of claim 15, wherein the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 50, 54, 56, 58, or 60 have at least 90% identity based on the Clustal alignment method.
 18. The polypeptide of claim 15, wherein the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 54, 56, 58, or 60 have at least 95% identity based on the Clustal alignment method.
 19. The polypeptide of claim 15, wherein the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 54, 56, 58, or
 60. 20. A method for isolating a polypeptide encoded by the polynucleotide of claim 1 comprising isolating the polypeptide from a cell containing a recombinant DNA construct comprising the polynucleotide operably linked to a regulatory sequence. 